Kismet
by Pumpkin Maximus
Summary: How can her hero, her savior, be such a jerk all the time? And what is behind the hard, asinine exterior of this hanyou?  InuxKag for KatieXoxoXSesshoukun's October Challenge. First-time lemon.
1. First Day

I do not own or make a profit from Inuyasha. Rumiko Takahashi does. :'(

Only the original characters and the plot are mine.

~o~o~o~o~

"Wow, I can't believe summer is almost over," said Kagome regretfully, sighing as she sank into the soft, comforting warmth of her bed. She turned her head slightly to look at the school uniform hanging from the foot of her bed-gray-and-red plaid skirt with a light grey cotton blouse and a cardinal red jacket to go over top.

Kagome sighed again and closed her eyes, remembering what her friend Sango had said when Kagome had told her that she was transferring to Shikon Private Academy._ Really? That's great, Kagome! Maybe if we ask Headmistress Kaede real nicely she'll give us the same classes!_

It's not that Kagome didn't want to transfer-really, Sango was like her sister-but did she have to do it so late in the school year? Really, everyone else had already had a quarter to get used to the place; the semester was half over. If only her mother could have gotten her new job earlier, then at least Kagome would have only had to go to one school.

Kagome had lived in this outer part of Tokyo all her life, but with her mother's new job, she could finally afford to send her kids to a specialized private school. It's not that Kagome was upset really, this school could offer her so much more than her last one, but did she really have to wait until_ after_ the school year had started to transfer?

"Kagome, stop moping and come down to dinner," said her mother from the doorway, making Kagome start just a little.

She sat up and held her head to try and suppress the head-rush, saying, "Yes, Mom."_ And I'm not moping_, she added in her head.

~o~o~

The next day saw Kagome up bright and early, showered, dressed, and ready to go before her little brother Souta had even dragged himself out of bed. She walked into his room, rolling her eyes at the games and dirty clothes scattered everywhere. She carefully maneuvered herself around a particularly pointy-looking Play-Station to the edge of his blue-and-brown sheeted, twin size bed.

"Hello, Souta. Time to wake up," she said softly, poking him on the temple.

The black-haired boy scrunched up his face and rolled his head to face the other way, muttering, "Five more minutes."

Kagome just shrugged and said at her normal tone, "Fine, then, you'll just be five more minutes late to your first day of Shikon Elementary."_ Now_ he was awake. He sprang out of bed as though it had shocked him, and started looking through his piles of clothes for something clean.

"That's today?" he asked, throwing shirts left and right as he looked for his new school uniform.

"Um, Souta?" said Kagome, pointing to the black and navy uniform hanging from the foot of his bed, where their mother had put it the night before.

Souta looked up and, "Oh!" He dove for the clothes as Kagome left the room, laughing and closing the door behind her.

"Souta's up," she said as she walked down the stairs and into the kitchen, grabbing a piece of toast from the toaster and sitting down at the table.

"Oh, thank you, dear." Kagome's mother was tall and slender, a nice-looking woman with a soft face and a kind heart. Right now she was dressed in a gray suit coat and pencil skirt for her first day working at the bank.

"Mom, your coat's on in-side-out," said Kagome helpfully as she finished lathering up her toast with butter and took a bite.

"Whoops." She fixed it quickly and went about getting ready, filling a briefcase with important-looking documents, brushing the toast crumbs off of her forest green ascot, and slipping her feet into sleek black, two-inch heels. "Well, I'm off," she announced from the front door. "You're walking to school with Sango and Kohaku, right?"

Kagome nodded. "Yeah, Mom, they'll help us get where we need to go. No need to worry."

Kagome's mother smiled. "I know, sweetie." She kissed Kagome on the forehead, then bounded out the door, calling back behind her, "Tell Souta I love him!" just as Souta rushed down the stairs.

"Was that Mom?" He asked anxiously.

"Yep," replied Kagome, going back to her toast.

"Oh, no! I must be really late!" He rushed for the door, then back, with looking for his book bag.

"Souta, calm down. We still have 15 more minutes," said Kagome, watching her frantic brother scramble to get ready as she took another piece of toast.

"What?" Souta exclaimed, looking at her in dismay. "I could have slept for another 10 minutes at least!" Kagome just rolled her eyes and pulled out a chair for him at the table.

"Come on. Now you have time to eat something before Sango and Kohaku get here."

Souta sat down and took a piece of toast that Kagome offered him, taking a bite and asking, "So we're walking with them to school?"

"Yes, Souta, and don't talk with your mouth full," Kagome scolded, handing him a napkin. "Kohaku will give you a tour of your school and Sango will give me a tour of mine. I'm pretty sure they're in most of our classes, for the time being, at least." Souta just nodded, as he was in the process of taking a bite of his toast.

Sango and Kohaku arrived right as Kagome and Souta finished putting away their dishes. "Oh, hey, Sango. We just need to get our bags," said Kagome, nodding to her friend.

"That's fine," said the strong brunette girl, smiling warmly. "We're actually early."

"Hey, Souta," Kohaku greeted, and they went on to talk about the newest demon-slaying video game on the market.

Sango rolled her eyes. "They should stop making those games. The demon population is going to get really angry one of these days."

Kagome nodded. "I agree, but don't bring it up around Souta; he loves to argue about that." She rolled her eyes as she opened the door and called the boys outside. On the walk to their schools (which were on the same campus) Kohaku and Souta continued to talk about their games and Sango and Kagome about the new school.

"There's only one person you really need to watch out for, well, her and her group," said Sango about halfway there. "Kikyou Yumihana." Kagome nodded. "She's a priestess but she's always flaunting her abilities and acting all condescending. She's not even nice to her friends, so don't expect a warm welcome from her. Don't worry about it though, everyone knows Kikyou's a bitch."

Kagome laughed at that. "Sango," she scolded, giggling, "there are children present." The girls dissolved into a fit of laughter for a moment, while the boys watched them like they were crazy.

"Don't worry, Kagome. If worst comes to worst, you can always hang out with my group." Kagome laughed and nodded, smiling. "Oh! Here's the school," said Sango, pointing to a grand, two-story building made of beautiful white stone and tile with blooming sakura trees out front. "This is the elementary school," said Sango, gesturing to the building that the boys were now entering and Kagome was gaping at.

"_That's_ the elementary school?" Kagome asked, flabbergasted.

"Wait till you see the high school," said Sango, laughing. They passed the middle school-which was pretty much the same as the elementary school but with three stories-and then they got to the high school. Kagome stopped walking and tilted her head back to stare at the immense building. Four stories!

"Come on, Kagome, you need to get your map and schedule before homeroom," said Sango, pulling along her friend through the huge, glass double doors. The inside was a large, spacious room with a crystal chandelier hanging from the high ceiling, gold light spewing over the large, unlit fireplace and three plush couches circling it over a Persian rug.

Kagome's eyes were ready to pop from her head as Sango led her to the large, white bar-type reception desk. "Hello, and welcome to Shikon Private Academy High School. I assume this is Ms. Kagome Higurashi?" asked the stout, brunette woman from behind the counter, smiling at them politely.

Sango nodded. "I'm supposed to give her a tour before school starts." The woman nodded, then searched through some papers on her workspace until she found what she was looking for.

"Here we are. Higurashi, Kagome. Your schedule, and here's a map of the campus as well." The polite woman handed Kagome a bundle of colored sheets, which she assumed as the map, and two pieces of white copy paper covered in black ink and stapled together, which she assumed was her schedule.

"You have ten minutes to complete your tour before you're due in your homeroom classes. Please don't be late." The woman smiled kindly but sternly, showing Kagome that, if she obeyed the rules, she wouldn't have any trouble with the reception lady this year.

"Thank you," the girls said in unison, then bowed and were on their way.

"Ten minutes, that's not nearly enough time," Sango muttered to herself as she pulled Kagome down the hall. They passed more halls and doors leading off to grand rooms, and Kagome thought she might faint. How was it possible for _anyone_ to afford this school, much less her humble little family? It looked more like a hotel than a place of learning!

Sango noticed her friend starting to hyperventilate, and patted her comfortingly on the shoulder. "Don't worry. They don't even teach on the bottom floor; it's used mostly for balls and conferences and things. The other three floors are divided up by grade. We'll only have to stay on the third floor."

Kagome heaved a sigh of relief upon hearing this and nodded at her friend, who smiled. "Well, we don't have much time, so I guess I'll just show you the classes on the way to homeroom." Kagome nodded, and listened intently as Sango named of the classrooms they passed.

A science lab, a language classroom, a trigonometry room, an English studies room, the art room, another science room, a Demon History room. It just kept going on and on. By the time they had reached the homeroom part of the building, Kagome was thoroughly exasperated. There was no way she was going to remember all of this!

Sango laughed at her cross-eyed expression. "Don't worry, you'll get used to it soon. And you have a map, too." She smiled again as the warning bell rang and Kagome heard students begin to thunder up the steps. "Come on," said Sango, pulling Kagome into their homeroom class.

"Wouldn't want to get trampled on your first day." Sango smiled devilishly at Kagome's eyes widened. "We'll find your locker after homeroom; we have a five minute passing period. Oh, and your locker number should be printed on the top of your schedule." Kagome nodded again and slowly followed Sango as she purposefully maneuvered her way through the rows of desks. Sango sat somewhere in the middle-there were around thirty desks altogether-while Kagome stood idly by, watching restlessly as the classroom filled with students.

"Excuse me, you're in my way," Kagome heard a voice from behind her say bluntly, and she turned to see who had spoken. The girl was almost exactly her height, perhaps a little taller, with long, straight black hair that went down to her hips and an icy stare upon her otherwise emotionless face. She nodded to the desk next to Sango. "You're in my way," she repeated in an emotionless voice, which only seem to add to her rudeness in Kagome's opinion.

"Oh, sorry," said Kagome, nodding slightly in apology and backing up to let her into her seat. Without even a word of thanks, the girl sat down and stared at the chalkboard up front, completely ignoring Kagome as though her role of importance in the world had ended as soon as she was out of her line of sight.

Kagome couldn't help but stare at the girl in complete surprise at her stark dismissal. Upon seeing the amazed glance that Kagome gave her, Sango returned it with a look that said,_ That's Kikyou._

"Okay, okay, everyone settle down." Kagome heard another voice from behind her, towards the front of the classroom, and she turned to look at the teacher. "Well, now, who do we have here?" Kagome gasped as a small demon threw himself at her face, sitting on her nose and making her go cross-eyed trying to look at him. He was the size of a flea, and looked like one, too, with his short, stout body and proboscis mouth jutting from his circular face. He was dressed in a four-armed gray suit with black dress pants.

"Uh, I-I'm Kagome Higurashi. I just started here today," she introduced herself to the teacher.

He nodded. "Right, Headmistress Kaede told me you'd be joining us today. Please have a seat so I can make the announcements." Kagome nodded slowly, trying not to make him fall.

"Yes, sir," she said as he jumped off her nose and started hopping across the desks up to the front. She looked around. There were no open desks next to Sango, unfortunately, but there were two right next to the window in the second row. Kagome chose the one closest to the window and sat down quickly, setting her book bag under the desk. It was a little lonely, sitting over there by herself, but the window gave a perfect view of the schoolyard. Whereas the front was a dark gray walkway lined with sakura trees, the back had a square lined by trees, with a tan-and-cream tiled path leading out to fields of lush green grass. There was an archery range and a track field, and if Kagome strained her neck she could just make out the edge of an outdoor swimming pool. This school was truly amazing!

Kagome was so busy ogling the grounds that she completely missed everything her new teacher said, and jumped in her seat when the bell dismissing them rang. She quickly scrambled to gather her things as Sango came over to her desk, laughing.

"Maybe it wasn't such a good idea for you to sit by the window. Did you hear anything of what Mr. Myoga said, Kagome?" Kagome looked up at her from scooping up her papers off the desk with a confused expression.

"Huh? What?" Sango laughed again.

"Don't worry, I don't think anything he said made any difference to you since you just started here, but you should probably start listening if you want to keep up with activities and things." She put her hand on her chin and thought for a moment. "I think the only thing you really need to know that he said in the announcements is that next week for the cultural festival we're doing a feudal diner. Oh, that and in three weeks there's a school-sponsored camping trip for the weekend. You need to get a permission slip from the sponsor, Ms. Kaguya, if you're interested."

Kagome nodded, trying to keep all the information in order inside her brain. Sango grabbed Kagome by the hand and dragged her out into the crowded hallway. "Now, what's your locker number?" she asked, looking up and down the rows of students conversing by the shiny metal lockers in between the classroom doors.

"Um, 281," said Kagome, looking at her bunch of papers.

"Lucky!" exclaimed Sango, making Kagome jump. She pointed to the stretch of wall right next to the door they had just come out of. "You are locker's so close! Mine's all the way back by this stairs so I have to go so I'm not late." Sango walked off, waving and smiling behind her, while Kagome opened her mouth in a silent plea for her to stay. It seemed like the fates were really going to make this day tough for her.

Kagome found her locker without problem, then the combination on her schedule, and opened it to find all of her books already there. Her next class was... math. Ew. But she got her math book out and made her way to the classroom, dodging in and out of hyperactive demons and tired-looking humans and even a couple condescending priestesses, some of whom even tried to trip her. But she got to the class in one piece, which was a plus.

The rest of her day went similarly. She found that she did have a couple classes with Sango, though her electives would change soon, once she picked her own. The day was pretty fast-paced until lunchtime rolled around, when, as Kagome was delighted to find, everyone went out back to eat in the square courtyard she had seen in homeroom.

This was when Sango introduced Kagome to her "friends," Miroku, Kouga, and Ayame. Upon seeing her, Miroku immediately asked Kagome to bear his children, though she didn't even have time to think before he was out cold from a punch to the head by Sango, and Kouga, though more subtle in his advances, soon had a large lump on his head as well, courtesy of Ayame. Kagome wasn't quite sure what to think of them at first, especially since Kouga and Ayame were both wolf demons, but she soon found herself joking and laughing with them as though they were all life-long friends.

The rest of the day went by uneventfully, and she walked home with Sango again, picking up the boys on the way. It seemed Souta had made a new friend as well, because walking home with them was the young fox demon Shippo. He was cute and very nice, and Kagome immediately knew that he was one of those "good" demons, the few that actually seemed like they had a heart.

They got to Shippo's house first, and had to wait for a bit while the boys said their goodbyes, but Kagome finally got them to leave by promising to set something up for them with her mom. And so, when Kagome and Souta finally got home, Kagome talked to her mother for a moment before ascending the stairs to her room, flopping down on the bed, and thinking with a sigh,_ What a day._

~o~o~o~o~

Well, this is a little story that's been floating around in my head for a while, and I just finally got the courage to post it thanks to KatiechanXoxoXSesshoukun and her challenge for the month of October! I know I'm starting a little late, but I still plan to be done by the 31st! Hopefully... -.-;

Anywho, the title is a little bit of me trying to by intelligent. "Kismet," according to my Merriam Webster Online Dictionary, means "fate." This is going to be an InuxKag story, even though he hasn't shown up yet, and there's a required lemon which I'm going to be attempting to write. My first, so try not to hurt me too much. ~dodges rocks~

Ahem, so, some explanation. Since Kikyou doesn't really have a last name in the manga/anime, I gave her one! "Yumihana" means "bow" as in bow and arrow and "flower." So, yeah. :| I'm not a real Kikyou-hater myself but a meaner, ruder Kikyou just fit better with my plot, so there you go. :|

Oh, one last thing before I stop this author's note already. They're in eleventh grade, which is the second year of high school in Japan. (It goes through sixth in elementary, then seventh through ninth in middle, and then the last three years in high school.) Kagome's gone to public schools all her life but Sango and the rest have been moving up the line in the Shikon Academy. Just thought you might want to know that. ^^


	2. New Kid

I do not own or make a profit from Inuyasha. Rumiko Takahashi does. :'(

Only the original characters and the plot are mine.

~o~o~o~o~

The week went by fast, and before Kagome new it, it was Sunday already. The rest of the week had gone by mostly the same, except that on Tuesday she had been called out of homeroom to pick her electives with the headmistress's secretary, Mr. Akitoki. Whereas before she had had martial arts, shop, and home economics with Sango, now she had archery, music, and home economics, which she still got to take with Sango, thankfully. Some of her other classes were switched out for more specific classes, such as History for Priestess History and such, simply because of her status as a priestess-in-training.

The trait skipped generations in her family, so Kagome's mother didn't have any spiritual powers, and she never met her grandmother before she passed away, so she didn't have any real training. Her grandpa liked to think that he was a great priest with amazing spiritual powers, but really, the perverted monk Miroku had more power than him, but no one told him this. Best just to let the senile old man have his fun while he still could.

Still, Kagome liked her priestess classes. They were fun and unique, and it didn't hurt that the teacher, Ms. Tsubaki, was really nice and funny, either, though she could be strict when she needed to be and seemed too close to Kikyou in Kagome's opinion. Really, the only thing that Kagome didn't like about her new school-besides Kikyou, of course-was Naraku Bukimi. He was the creepy guy with red eyes and greasy hair that seemed to be stalking her around school. He wasn't in very many of her classes (just homeroom, math, and science, thankfully) but in all of those classes he either sat behind or next to her, and she could always feel the cold tingle of his stare on her skin. Though she had sat right in front of him, unknowingly, in homeroom, all the other classes had chosen new seats for the new quarter, and in every one he had somehow managed to sit right next to her. Just thinking about him now made her shiver.

But she didn't have time for that now. She and Sango had set up to go out shopping and to a movie while the boys came over to her house for the day. She was wearing a cute yellow sundress that her mother had dug up out of the closet for her. There was a cream belt built into it that wrapped around her waist and a bit of lace sewed onto the bottom hem. There were no sleeves, but the straps were thick and the back was high so Kagome didn't feel too self-conscious in it. She had a small cream clutch purse that she had stuffed a couple thousand yen into as well, but she wasn't planning on buying much more than lunch with cash so she didn't really think she needed anything more.

She was just lying on her bed, waiting for Sango to get there, when she heard the doorbell ring. She jumped off of the bed, grabbed her clutch from the desk on the opposite wall, and descended down the stairs to the front door. She smiled at Sango, Kohaku, and Shippo standing in the doorway, the boys almost bouncing with excitement.

Kagome moved out of the way and laughed as they raced in. "Souta's upstairs in his room," she called after them as they bounded up the stairs. She shook her head ruefully and turned back to Sango, who was still standing in the doorway smiling. She was wearing a pretty black tank top with the words "Bite Me" written on it in English and navy jeans that hugged her curves and hung loose around her ankles. Her feet were donned in simple black tennis shoes with red splashes on the heels.

"Jeez, I hope I'm not over-dressed," said Kagome, slipping on her pale yellow flats.

Sango laughed. "No, you look fine," she said, smiling and waving it off. "So, ready to go?"

"Yeah, just let me tell my mom I'm off. She's out in the garden," said Kagome, walking out the door and closing it behind her. She stuck her head around the edge of the house and called out into the miniature forest, "Hey, Mom! Kohaku and Shippo are upstairs with Souta. Me and Sango are off now."

From the mass of tangled leaves and vines, Kagome's mother's head emerged and turned to smile at them, tucking a stray strand of her short, dark brown hair behind her ear. "That's fine, honey. You have a good time," she called, waving to them.

"Bye, Mom," Kagome called back, waving and smiling as she led Sango back over to the massive pile of white stairs leading down from her family's shrine. They were just going to walk into town, as it wasn't very far until they got to all the tourist-y stuff, just a little past the school. Kagome and Sango walked at a normal pace in the pleasantly warm sun, laughing and talking about pretty much anything and everything that came into their minds.

"So, Kouga and Ayame are a couple, right?" Kagome asked, and Sango nodded. "How long has that been going on for?"

Sango thought for a second before answering. "I don't know really," she finally answered. "They both moved here at the same time, about the middle of third grade. They were always really close but I don't know how long it's been official. If rumor holds true, they were supposedly engaged to each other since they were five. Their parents set it up. That's about all I know, though," she finished, shrugging.

Kagome nodded, then she adopted a devious grin. "So, then, you and Miroku..." She let her voice trail off; she knew Sango would get the implications.

"No!" exclaimed Sango forcefully with a wide-eyed expression that made Kagome laugh. "We are_ strictly_ friends! There is no way I'd go out with that perverted monk!" Kagome laughed at her violent denial and make calming gestures with her hands.

"Okay, okay, I was just wondering. It's obvious you're not interested."_ But it's also obvious you're lying,_ she thought with another smile. "So, where are we off to first?" she asked to change the subject.

Sango relaxed visibly at the change. "I was thinking we could go to the movie first, then get something to eat and go shopping for our cultural festival clothes?" she said, turning it into a question at the end to ask if that was what Kagome wanted to do as well.

"That sounds good," said Kagome, nodding. "What were we going to see again?"

Sango smiled a little sheepishly. "It's the latest romantic thriller:_ A Feudal Fairy Tale._ It's a feudal love story about a human and a demon. It got really good ratings." Kagome gave a short laugh at her almost pleading expression.

"Sounds good," she said, and Sango smiled in relief. The girls didn't get to do things together very often, but both knew that they had conflicting tastes in some things. Both, though, were suckers for a good love story. They didn't get any popcorn or drinks at the movie-they were going out to eat afterwards anyway. After the two-hour-long movie-which both teens enjoyed immensely-their stomachs were growling loudly, and they quickly made for the nearest Wacdonald's. They had cheeseburgers and sodas, not caring that the rest of the salad-eating girls in the restaurant were staring at them strangely and gobbled them down, discussing the movie in between bites.

"I thought that was really good," said Kagome, taking a sip of her soda. "Nice pick, Sango."

Sango nodded, swallowing her bite of cheeseburger. "Thanks, I liked it too." Kagome took a bite of her cheeseburger, then spied something out of the corner of her eye. A dark shadow, sinking back into the booth so that she couldn't see it anymore. She got a strange chill crawling up the base of her spine. Come to think of it, she had been feeling paranoid since they left the house, as though someone was watching them. She looked at Sango, who is happily devouring her cheeseburger as though nothing was wrong. Perhaps she had just imagined it, perhaps there was nothing-

"Don't make any sudden movements, but I think someone's been following us." Kagome was brought out of her thoughts by the quiet, calm voice of Sango. She looked at the other girl quizzically. Sango widened her eyes just slightly at Kagome, warning her not to make a scene, and both girls went back to eating their burgers in silence. It would have been better if they could have thought of something to talk about, less suspicious, but they were both too anxious to come up with anything casual enough at the moment.

They finished eating and threw away their trash, then started to walk down the sidewalk, clutching their purses to their chests. It was a little consoling that the sidewalks were particularly crowded for a Sunday, but neither of the girls could shake the paranoid feeling that they were being followed. They were almost running by the time they got to the mall.

"Maybe we should just go home...," Kagome suggested in a whisper as Sango led the way through the crowd.

"No, we're fine. And, anyway, we'll never get another chance to come out here before the cultural festival on Friday."

Kagome sighed. "If you say so...," she said, looking at her worried reflection in the windows of the stores they passed.

"Aha! There it is!" exclaimed Sango after another minute of silence, making Kagome jump.

"There what is?" Kagome asked almost wearily.

Sango pointed to a large, colorful shop about twenty feet from them. "Just the shop we were looking for: Feudal Fun." She looked back at her friend, smiling widely and excitedly. "Come on, Kagome. Let's go pick out our costumes," she said, pulling the flabbergasted teen into the huge store.

Once they entered, the girls were assaulted with nearly every color of the visible spectrum, made into kimonos, headdresses, hakamas; the aisles seemed endless. They stood in the doorway for a moment-staring around, amazed-before they were simultaneously brought back to themselves. They began to rush down the rows of beautiful clothes, former paranoia forgotten in the shine of glittering material. They picked up garment after garment, showing them to each other and laughing at some of their more ridiculous choices.

Finally, after almost an hour of looking through everything, each teen had picked out the five outfits they liked best, and they made their way to the dressing room. The kind lady at the help desk smiled warmly at them and handed them each a key to her room, telling them to take their time. The girls spent about twenty minutes trying on each of their outfits and showing them to each other before they finally decided.

Sango picked out a calf-length kimono of deep indigo, covered with random splashes of yellow made to look almost like flowers. Other random splashes of white and green made smaller flowers around the larger yellow ones. A yellow, pink, and orange sash held the garment together, extending all the way from just beneath her breasts almost to her waistline.

Kagome's kimono was of a similar fashion, just different colors. Hers was pure white with light pink flowers scattered across it, accompanied by smaller red flowers and three lines of light green jutting gracefully from each, almost like leaves. Her kimono was fastened with an equally large sash, colored the same red as the small flowers.

Once both girls had changed back and handed the rejects to the help desk lady, along with their changing room keys, they began to make their way through the aisles towards the register. Abruptly, the sense of paranoia that had vacated them upon entering the shop returned, and a shiver ran up their spines. Both girls turned slowly back the way they had come to see...

A pervert dressed in purple!

"Miroku!" the girls exclaimed, voices equally filled with surprise, relief, and anger. "What are you doing here?" Sango asked, irritation winning out as the dominant emotion in her voice.

Miroku gave a somewhat sheepish look and make calming gestures with his hands. "Calm down. I was just looking for a costume for the cultural festival," he explained.

Kagome surveyed his attire. "Seems you found one, too," she remarked. He was dressed in simple dark purple monk's robes, with a lighter purple cloth wrapped around that and tied above his heart. His too-long black hair was tied back in a short ponytail and tan sandals graced his feet. He even had a golden staff thrown in for good measure.

"Did you ladies pick out something as-" Miroku began to ask, before he was cut off by a sharp smack from Sango's fist. "Ow! Sango, what was that for?" he asked, holding the bump on his head.

"Have you been following us around all day?" Sango asked accusingly, preparing for another strike.

Miroku was struck dumb. "Today? You think I've been-" Smack! "Ow! What did I-" Smack! "Sango!" Smack!

Kagome watched them argue for a bit before she quietly took Sango's purchase and said, "I'll meet you out front, then," walking towards the cash register. Sango didn't answer; she was too busy hitting Miroku.

Kagome walked to the front desk and paid for their purchases using a credit card that her mother had let them borrow, as she only had around ¥1000 left in her purse. Gathering up the bags of clothing, Kagome exited the store, unknowingly walking out the door that led outside rather than the one that led back into the mall.

"Whoops," she muttered to herself, turning to go back through when something caught her around the waist, pulling her backwards. Kagome screamed, but that was soon cut off by a dirty hand shoving itself over her mouth. Kagome was dragged into an alley in between that store and the next, a long, dark thing that would offer protection from probing eyes. Not that that was what Kagome wanted.

She continued to flail with her arms and legs, kicking, punching, trying to free her mouth and scream. But her captor was strong, too strong to be a female, or human, for that matter, and Kagome was no match for him. At the end of the alley, after Kagome had dropped the bags in the vain attempts to free herself, her captor brought his face to her ear and spoke. "My little priestess...," he said in a voice like the oily tendrils of hair that were now sliding across her shoulders. Kagome's eyes widened in horror.

Naraku.

"Let's have some fun, shall we?" he suggested evilly, and he began to trail a hand down her waist to her thigh, beginning to lift the pale yellow fabric of her dress. Kagome closed her eyes tight, willing this not to happen. Why here, why now? Why him, why her? It seems like the universe was intent on punishing her in the worst way possible.

"Hm, be good now," he whispered in her ear, making her shiver in fear, "I don't want to have to get rough." Her dress was hiked all the way up her thighs now, and Naraku tucked it into the belt around her waist before beginning to remove her panties.

Kagome didn't know what to do; her mind was blank with fear. She couldn't scream, she couldn't fight him, as he had pressed her arms securely in between their bodies, where they were slowly losing feeling. There was nothing she could do. He was going to rape her, to forcefully take her virginity from her in this dark alley, and there wasn't anything in the world Kagome could_ do_-

Her downward spiral of panic was cut short as Kagome felt Naraku's hand stop its harassment of her body, and his breathing halt. She opened her eyes, but whatever had startled Naraku was already gone, and before she could think-

Smack! Naraku's head hit the concrete, effectively knocking him out and most likely giving him a concussion. Kagome fell to her hands and knees and resumed her breathing, looking around for the new threat. A boy, about her age, stood maybe five feet from her, watching her emotionlessly. He bent down and Kagome flinched, not sure what he was going to do, but he merely picked up her yellow clutch purse and began rummaging through it.

"What are you-" she began to ask shakily before he cut her off, holding up her ¥1000.

"Compensation," he said simply, then with one graceful bound he was out of the alley and on the rooftops, leaving her with only the image of his long, white hair flowing over the wall as a parting gift.

Kagome sat there, dumbstruck, for a moment. But then she took a look at the unconscious Naraku, a small pool of blood soaking through his midnight hair, and a shiver ran through her body, repulsion giving her the strength to stand. Kagome pulled her panties back up and fixed her dress as best she could before walking out of the alley, picking up her clutch and purchases along the way.

"Kagome!" Sango called from the doorway as her friend left the alley, waving to her. Kagome put on her best fake smile and turned her friends, who were now walking towards her. "Kagome! We were worried. We couldn't find you and-oh, my God, Kagome what happened?" Sango asked upon noticing her friend's de-shelved state.

"Nothing," said Kagome with a fake smile, but her voice cracked with a barely-suppressed sob. Sango wordlessly moved closer to her friend, and brought her into a comforting embrace. Kagome was soon crying on her shoulder in relief.

"Kagome, what happened?" asked Miroku quietly after a time, standing close to but not touching the girls. "Why is Naraku bleeding and unconscious in the alley?" Kagome shivered at the half-demon's name, and Sango's eyes widened in realization.

"Oh, my God! Kagome, did he-" Sango was cut off by Kagome's quiet, hesitant voice, broken by sobs and hiccups.

"Someone-I-I don't know who-but someone came in and rescued me just as he was about to-" Kagome couldn't say anymore; she didn't need to. Sango nodded comfortingly, patting her friend on the back and letting her cry out her fear onto her black tank top.

Sango looked up at Miroku briefly, and made a small motion with her head back to the store. "Call the police," she mouthed, and he nodded silently, swiftly going to obey her orders.

After everything had been cleared up with the police, Kagome's mother drove down to give them all a ride back to her house. Kagome was silent the whole time, but in her mind accusations were forming. It was just a little_ too_ convenient that that white-haired boy happened to to be right there and able to see what was happening, even more unbelievable was that he was willing to help. During the length of the ride home, Kagome had already come up with an explanation for his help.

_He teamed up with Naraku!_ she thought, glaring at her tear-stained reflection in the rear-view mirror._ Naraku would pretend like he was going to rape me and then the other guy would come in, do some little damage, and steal my money! That has to be it!_

This new idea made so much more sense to her than anything else, that Kagome found it particularly easy to ignore the small voice in the back of her mind that called out to her,_ Benefit of the doubt! You don't know that! He could really be a nice person!_ All Kagome could see was a dirty scumball who had betrayed her trust and robbed her blind.

~o~o~

Naraku wasn't at school the next day, thankfully, but someone else was. "Hm, Mr. Taisho, I assume?" That was Mr. Myoga, speaking to the person who had just walked into class, about five minutes late. Kagome was glaring out the window, not bothering to look up at the newcomer. She was still too busy seething about the incident the day before.

"There's only one open desk, next to Ms. Higurashi by the window." Kagome sighed. If this "Taisho" was going to be sitting next to her until they changed desks again, she might as well see what he looked like. She heard him sit down, and glanced at him out of the corner of her eye-

"Hey! You're the guy that took my money yesterday!" Kagome exclaimed, turning to look at him in full. He just looked at her with bored eyes, the color of melted topaz, while the rest of the class stared in shock.

"Keh. You're not getting it back, if that's what you want," he said, turning away from her. Kagome just stared at him in disbelief.

~o~o~o~o~

Okay, chapter 2. I really like this story so far; it's fun to write. And it's only going to get better from here, so I hope you please stay with me while I blunder on blindly. As I said in my author's note in Chapter 1, this is a story that I was thinking of for a while but I just finally got around to doing it for an October challenge from KatieXoxoXSesshoukun. Also as I stated before, there should be a lemon somewhere further on in the story, which_ will_ be my first lemon, so I hope you don't bash me too hard. -.-; I know it's going to suck.

Anywho, interesting info about Naraku's last name. Since he didn't have one, just like Kikyou, I made him one. Bukimi actually literally means "creepy," which I thought was quite fitting for him. XD Oh, and another thing some people might be confused about. ¥1000 (1000 yen) is about $10, because about every ¥100 = $1. ^^ Well, I think that's all. Stay tuned for chapter 3!


	3. Beads of Subjugation

I do not own or make a profit from Inuyasha. Rumiko Takahashi does. :'(

Only the original characters and the plot are mine.

~o~o~o~o~

After that point in time, Kagome decided that she really hated Inuyasha Taisho. He was such an inconsiderate jerk! Every day she had to spend with him felt like torture. Not to mention he was even in her music class, which, previously, had been her favorite class of the day. The cultural festival was on Friday, of course, so it wasn't long before she got the bad news.

"What?" she exclaimed when Mr. Myoga announced their groups on Thursday. "There is no way! I refuse!"

"Ms. Higurashi, please sit down. The decision has already been made. You are to work with Mr. Taisho in this year's cultural festival." Kagome growled, sitting back in her seat and crossing her arms.

"Maybe you'd rather work with Naraku Bukimi." Kagome turned to glare at Inuyasha, who is sneering right back at her.

"Shut up, Taisho," she said through her teeth, going back to glaring out the window. He hadn't told anyone about the incident. _Yet,_ Kagome reminded herself, sighing. Sooner or later, she knew something was going to happen, and her secret was going to get out. So far, only her friends, Inuyasha, and Naraku knew, but that could all change in an instant judging by how fast rumors spread in this school.

At least Naraku hadn't showed up to school all week long, that made it_ easier_ to pretend that nothing had happened, though Inuyasha's presence made it impossible to completely forget. Especially when he refused to leave her alone.

"Shut _up_, Taisho. I'm not in the mood to deal with you today," Kagome said without looking back at him, covering her eyes with her hands in exasperation.

In the seat next to her, Inuyasha rolled his eyes. "You're_ never_ in the mood to deal with me," he said in mock hurt.

Kagome rolled her eyes. "Oh, I wonder why," she said sarcastically, waving off his comment like an annoying fly. She couldn't believe she had to work with_ this_ idiot in the cultural festival tomorrow. It was totally unfair! First of all, they didn't get along in the first place, so why was it a good idea for them to work together? And second, why was Headmistress Kaede set on making the teams boy-girl? Kagome felt really bad for Sango, who had been paired up with Miroku. On the other hand, though, it was obvious Sango liked Miroku, she just didn't want to show it.

_But that is_ not_ my case,_ she thought fiercely._ There is_ no way_ I would ever even_ consider_ associating with that good-for-nothing scumball!_ Kagome wasn't trying to generalize, not all have-breeds were bad. Just Inuyasha... and Naraku... And, well, she didn't really know any more than that, but she knew that not all of them were bad. If a full-demon could be-if not human, then at least more humane-then surely a half-demon could as well. So far, though, she hadn't seen any proof of her theory.

The bell rang then, and Kagome got up and got her stuff to go to math. Not only had it been her least favorite class before, but now that Inuyasha was in it as well, each day felt like a living hell, only it was just her ears burning. Since Naraku had been absent from school all week-Kagome sent a silent prayer to the heavens that he would _stay_ away-Inuyasha had been using his seat, the one just to her left.

Add one extremely annoying half-breed, a very pissed-off miko, and an enclosed math room with the most boring teacher on Earth. Stir and let the madness begin.

"Inuyasha, give me back the friggin' pencil!" Kagome whispered fiercely as their teacher, Mr. Jaken, shuffled papers at his desk up front. Inuyasha put the pencil at the top of his desk and went back to his test as though nothing was the matter. "Inuyasha!"

"Excuse me, Ms. Higurashi, is there something you'd like to share with the class?" Kagome looked up sheepishly at the face of their demon math teacher staring at her disapprovingly.

Kagome cleared her throat nervously and replied, "I'm sorry, Mr. Jaken, but I dropped my pencil and Taisho won't give it back." She felt like a tattling first grader, but that was what had happened, and she wasn't going to lie about it, especially when she really needed to get a good grade on this test.

The teacher turned his gaze to Inuyasha then, who was working on his test as though nothing was happening. Mr. Jaken cleared his throat. "Well, Mr. Taisho? Is there something you'd like to say so we can get on with this class?"

Inuyasha looked up at the front and adopted his signature "whatever" face. "Keh," he said, going back to his test.

Mr. Jaken actually glared at him, as Kagome was doing from the desk next to his. "Well, if you're so intent on talking back to me, young man, then-"

Mr. Jaken's angry declaration was cut off by the intercom in the room beeping once and the voice of Headmistress Kaede's secretary, Mr. Akitoki, saying, "Mr. Jaken, can we have Inuyasha Taisho and Kagome Higurashi to the headmistress's office for a moment, please?"

"Gladly!" answered Mr. Jaken, glaring at the two teens. Kagome was shocked, but she got up and left the room, Inuyasha right on her heels.

They walked in silence until they got to the stairs, at which point Kagome turned to glare at Inuyasha out of the corner of her eye. "Just for the record, this is all your fault. I take no responsibility in this," she informed him, turning back to watch the hallway.

"Keh," was all she heard as a response, making her scowl.

They walked down the two flights of stairs to the first floor and made their way through the Hall of Ballrooms (as Kagome called it) to the first big room with the reception desk and the double doors that led outside. They passed the reception desk, Kagome nodding to the brunette lady as they went, and made their way through another long hallway to the last door on the left, the headmistress's office.

Kagome opened the door and walked into Mr. Akitoki's office, where they would wait until the headmistress called them in. Mr. Akitoki smiled warmly at them as they entered, then went back to shuffling the papers on his desk, moving them from a "To Do" pile to a "Done" pile. They took the seats on the wall opposite his workspace, the wall that was connected to the headmistress's office.

And then they waited.

It was quite awkward for Kagome, sitting there in silence right next to the boy she hated, the boy who had saved her life and then stole her money. He slumped in his chair, arms crossed across his chest, but Kagome couldn't tell if he was angry-and if so, who at-or if he was just bored with the world. She found him a very hard person to read, which only frustrated her more.

Finally, they were called into the office, as a younger girl with black hair left, smiling brightly at some apparently good news she had just received. Inuyasha got up and went in first, followed by Kagome, who closed the door behind her. Headmistress Kaede sat at her desk, not looking at them, apparently absorbed in the book she was reading. There were two wooden chairs in front of her, though, and both teens knew what was expected of them.

As soon as they were settled in their seats, the headmistress looked up at them with a disapproving eye. "I'm sure ye both know why you're in here." Kagome ducked her head in shame. She was never the kind of girl that got into a lot of trouble at school; this was something completely new to her. "I have to tell you that disrupting the class as such will not be tolerated in this school, nor in any other, I assure ye."

"Hey, hag! How do you know what was going on in class?" Inuyasha exclaimed as Kagome looked up in surprise. There was no way Mr. Jaken could have gotten a report to her that fast... And then Inuyasha's sentence reached comprehension in her brain.

"Taisho!" she exclaimed, scolding him for insulting their headmistress.

Inuyasha gave one of his famous, "Keh!"s as Headmistress Kaede brought up her hands in a gesture to bring them back to the matter at hand. "The point is," she said, looking at both of them pointedly, "that you can obviously not work harmoniously together."

Kagome's face brightened as a small, hopeful thought rushed through her mind. _Does that mean we don't have to work together for the cultural festival tomorrow?_

"Therefor, we will have to take measures to keep ye from harming one another or any of the other students while you're working together." Kagome's hope died before it was even fully formed. What did that mean? "So-" Headmistress Kaede shuffled around under her desk for a moment before pulling out a rosary "-Mr. Taisho, ye will be required to wear this for the time being."

Inuyasha gaped at her incredulously. Kagome wasn't in much better shape. How was _that_ thing going to keep them from fighting tomorrow? Whereas Kagome was openly baffled, Inuyasha just plain out refused. "No way am I wearing that thing!" he said, pointing a clawed finger at the offending accessory.

The headmistress gave him a stern look, and Kagome suddenly got the feeling that she knew a lot more about the world and what had gone one between them than she let on. "Oh, but ye will," she said ominously, then held the rosary in her closed hands and began to chant, so fast that even Inuyasha's half-demon hearing couldn't pick it up. A bright light engulfed the headmistress and the beads, and right before the adolescents' startled eyes, the beads began to break apart and zoom towards Inuyasha, beginning to form around his neck.

"What the-" he exclaimed, jumping up and trying to pull the now fully-formed rosary off of his neck. The headmistress stopped chanting and surveyed her work, then nodded as if satisfied with herself. "Take it off, hag!" Inuyasha screamed at her, trying to pull the thing over his head. But each time the beads reached his chin, they began to glow and ceased moving upward, preventing Inuyasha from removing them himself.

Headmistress Kaede shook her head ruefully, turning her level gaze to Kagome, who was still sitting, watching Inuyasha in shock. "Only Ms. Higurashi has the power to remove the beads," she stated calmly, while Inuyasha turned his hateful gaze on the startled girl.

"Take. Them. Off!" he growled at her, turning each word into a sentence for emphasis.

"Um, ah, uh-" Kagome didn't know what she was supposed to do; just one thought was floating through her blank mind. Inuyasha was _scary_ when he was mad.

The sound of the headmistress clearing her throat brought their heads back around to look at her. "Those are beads of subjugation, Mr. Taisho. Ms. Higurashi is the only one that can inflict the punishment on ye, when she sees fit." Now Kagome was just staring at the headmistress as though she was mad. Beads of subjugation? On Inuyasha? Those things wouldn't last five minutes with the way his rage was climbing.

"And that works _how_ exactly?" Kagome asked hesitantly, still not willing to believe what was happening.

Kaede looked back at the girl. "Ye chose the word that will bind him to your will. Ye simply have to say it and he will be subjugated."

Kagome was still dubious, but Inuyasha was getting madder by the minute, and the way it looked right now, he might just attack one of them. Kagome saw the edges of his eyes begin to bleed red, and she decided that it was definitely time to intervene. Looking at him, trying to think of some way to come up with the word to get him to submit to her will, Kagome spied his twitching white dog ears on top of his head, and got an idea.

"Sit!"

Smack! Inuyasha hit the floor. Kagome stared at the top of his head incredulously, watching his dog ears twitch and he got a good mouthful of the thick red office carpet. The beads around his neck... After she had said the word, they had glowed for a brief moment before dragging him face-first into the carpet.

"What was that?" she asked the headmistress as Inuyasha struggled to pull himself back up, the spell still having not entirely worn off.

"That was the power of the beads of subjugation," she explained as Inuyasha finally managed to drag himself back to his feet.

"No fucking way! Die, hag!" Inuyasha swiped for Headmistress Kaede's face with his claws.

"Taisho! Sit!" Kagome yelled in concern for her elder. Inuyasha kissed the carpet again.

"Thank ye, Ms. Higurashi," said the headmistress, nodding to the girl.

"Headmistress...," said Kagome, carefully bringing her eyes back to the old priestess from where they had been glued to Inuyasha cursing into the carpet. "Are you sure you're allowed to do this?" she asked. "I don't mean to be rude or anything, but don't you need parent permission or something..." She trailed off uncertainly, watching the headmistress's face for any sign that she had been offended.

There was none, thankfully. "I do, in fact, have permission from Mr. Taisho's guardian to subdue him in this way should he cause problems in my school." Kagome just stared at the old women incredulously. What kind of parent would willingly let someone jam their child's face into the ground every time he acted up, especially when they weren't even there?

"Fucking Sesshomaru," Inuyasha growled as he pulled himself to his feet. Kagome watched him wearily. Whereas before he had simply been an annoying jerk to her, now he had a valid reason to hate her, with a passion, even. And she had already witnessed Inuyasha's temper once today, which was not an incident she would like to have repeated. Ever.

"Thank you, Headmistress, but I think we should be going now," Kagome said, bowing to the woman before Inuyasha could say anything else. He turned to glare at her, and opened his mouth to say something before Kagome cut him off. "We do have a math test that we both need to finish."

The headmistress nodded to them and got up to open the door, dismissing them. "I expect ye both on your best behavior tomorrow. Ye will be representing our school, remember."

Kagome nodded and bowed again. "Thank you, Headmistress." She walked out the door with Inuyasha at her back, who conveniently forgot to bow to their elder as he passed. Headmistress Kaede sighed as she watched them leave, then closed the door and walked back into her office to read the book at her desk again.

Down the Hallway of Ballrooms, the teens were silently walking, not looking at each other. Both were deep in thought, though Inuyasha seemed more to be seething than contemplating anything. Except maybe how to kill the two women who had put him in this predicament.

Kagome sighed. Her life had just gotten a _lot_ more complicated. She was going to have to be really careful around Inuyasha now, even more than usual. Just as she was thinking of how hard it would be to remember not to say "sit" around him when she didn't mean to punish him for something, she felt a strong hand grip her shoulder and pull her into the nearest ballroom.

"Hey!" she cried, but was cut off by the fierce look in Inuyasha's eyes as he spun her around to face him.

"Not a _word_ of this will leave your mouth, do you hear?" he demanded, holding her up against the wall in an iron grip clamped on her shoulder.

"Yes, yes, I got it! Now let go!" she exclaimed, trying to move his hand from where it was beginning to bruise her shoulder.

The grip loosened but he didn't let go. Instead, he pushed his head up closer to her face, so that their noses were almost touching, and growled, "Are you sure you understand? I mean _no one_ will hear of this. Not Sango, not your parents, not even your friggin' diary. Do you understand?"

"Yes, I understand, Taisho," she said through clenched teeth, staring hard into his topaz eyes. "No one will hear of this. I won't even say the word until you really piss me off."

Inuyasha growled at her, but backed up and let her go, knowing that he wasn't going to get any better than that out of her. Kagome rubbed her shoulder lightly where he had grabbed her, feeling the bruise starting to form. "I'm blaming you if I can't participate in archery today," she glared at him, holding her shoulder.

"Keh," was all she got as a response, and Inuyasha left the huge ballroom back to the hallway. Once he was gone, Kagome stuck out her tongue and pulled down an eyelid at him to show her dissatisfaction with the whole situation. She quickly followed, though, as she knew it would look weird if they went into the room only thirty seconds apart.

Inuyasha was already halfway up the first flight of stairs, and Kagome hurried after him to walk about three feet behind him all the way back to the math room. Mr. Jaken sure had a lot to say to them once they got back, but both Kagome and Inuyasha quickly and quietly took their seats, Inuyasha handing Kagome back her pencil and Kagome nodding in thanks as the teacher continued to rant about their disruption of his class.

~o~o~o~o~

Okay, so I was originally going to have this chapter be the cultural festival, but then I decided that I wanted Inuyasha to have the beads on before the festival and, well, my muse ran away from me. :| Anywho, yeah, Inuyasha now has his beads of subjugation and Kagome knows how to use them... What will happen next? I honestly have no idea. -.- I hope you liked the chapter, though. Please review if you find any errors or things you think I could have done better; I love constructive criticism. ^^


	4. Cultural Festival

I do not own or make a profit from Inuyasha. Rumiko Takahashi does. :'(

Only the original characters and the plot are mine.

~o~o~o~o~

"Ugh," Kagome groaned, rolling out of bed. "Cultural festival's today." She quickly went to the bathroom to take a shower, then dressed in the kimono she had gotten on Sunday with Sango and sauntered down the stairs, a huge yawn splitting her face.

"Good morning, Kagome. Did you sleep well?" her mother greeted her from the kitchen counter, where she was busy frying up some eggs and bacon for breakfast.

Kagome sat down in a chair and laid her head on the table, closing her eyes. "Not really," she muttered. "I could use about twenty more year's worth."

Her mother laughed at her listless approach to the morning. "How come, honey? Have a bad dream?"

"Actually, yes," responded Kagome, tilting her head on her arms to look at her mother cooking breakfast. "I had the strangest dream; nightmare, actually. You remember Inuyasha? That jerk dog I told you about from school?" Her mother nodded silently, concentrating on getting the eggs just right, but Kagome knew that she was still listening.

"Well, I had a dream that he was sitting on the floor beside my bed, just watching me sleep. It was really freaky, but was even weirder was that, when the dream woke me up, I could still feel traces of his aura lingering around my bed."

Kagome looked up, startled, as her mother burst out laughing. "I knew it!" she exclaimed, baffling Kagome, who hadn't the slightest clue what her mother was talking about. "I knew you liked him!"

"Mom!" Kagome protested loudly, but that just made her mother laugh louder.

"I'm just teasing you, sweetie. Don't worry about it too much; I'm sure it was just one of those weird dreams that you get before a big day. When you're stressed." She winked and Kagome smiled, understanding that her mother was just trying to ease her discomfort.

"Thanks, Mom," she said, smiling and standing. "Now, let's go see if Souta is still alive up there!" She stomped up the stairs in exaggerated anger, making her mother laugh lightly again.

Kagome's normal morning routine continued on from there; waking up Souta, eating breakfast, waving to her mother as she left for her job at the bank, walking to school with Sango and Kohaku. It was almost like a regular day, except for the fact that Kagome and Sango were in their kimonos, and the boys were each carrying a large dish that they were expected to sell at their own cultural festival. Since the schools were all on the same campus, students were allowed to walk to the other schools once their own duty had been preformed, and Kagome was really looking forward to visiting Souta and Kohaku's food stand and stealing some of that delicious-looking cake that Kohaku was balancing in his arms.

They dropped the boys off at the elementary school with calls of "Good luck" and walked to their own school, which looked even grander than it usually did. Hanging paper lanterns with colorful designs adorned the sakura trees out front, and the path leading up to the glass doors of the school was strewn with onlookers, students and families, humans and demons, all filing into the school building for the assembly explaining the cultural festival in the school's largest ballroom, the Banquet Room. After that, everyone would be free to roam the grounds and look at the students' exhibits.

The girls stared in wonder at the school just like everyone else, and slowly filed through the double doors and into the building with the crowd. The reception lady and the headmistress's secretary, Mr. Akitoki, where directing everyone off to the left, towards the Hallway of Ballrooms, and then a sign led them through the large oak doors that marked the threshold of the school's Banquet Room.

The room was full to bursting, evenly split into demon and human families, with half-demons and holy peoples placed somewhere in the middle, the holy peoples to keep the two groups separate and at peace, and the half-demons simply because there was no where else to put them. Kagome knew that Inuyasha would be there in the middle somewhere, probably with his family.

"Sango, let's sit over here," said Kagome, tugging on the sleeve of her friend's kimono and motioning over to the far edge of the human crowd, about as far away from the half-demons as they could get.

Sango frowned. "Aren't you supposed to go sit in the middle since you're a priestess, Kagome?" she asked, genuinely puzzled.

Kagome waved it off like a buzzing fly. "Only the experienced ones are really useful over there; I'm no where near good enough for them to need me. Anyway, Kikyou's sure to be over there." Sango nodded at once in understanding, and directed them over to where she spotted Miroku sitting near the edge of the crowd (Kouga and Ayame would be with the other demons, unfortunately), not quite as far away from the middle as Kagome would have liked, but far enough to satisfy her. She _did not_ want to confront Inuyasha any sooner than necessary, especially after yesterday.

The friends greeted each other happily and talked for some moments before Headmistress Kaede appeared on the raised platform in front of all the chairs and a silence was called over the crowd. All was still for a moment-not even the faint sounds of breathing could be heard, as though everyone in the huge room was holding their breath-and then the headmistress began to speak.

"I thank ye all for being here today to witness the 75th, Shikon Academy High School Cultural Festival." The crowd erupted into cheers and whistles, but they quickly died down as everyone waited for Headmistress Kaede to continue. "I am very proud to present my students to ye; I know that they have all worked very hard on their exhibits for your enjoyment."

More cheers and whistling. As they died down again, Headmistress Kaede ended her speech with a quick, "I hope ye all enjoy the festival!" and everyone burst from their seats and rushed out the doors to the back of the school grounds, where most of the exhibits would be set up. Kagome, Sango, and Miroku were all caught up in the crowd, and pushed out the doors along with everyone else. Before they knew it, they were out back in the sakura-lined square, and then out on the rolling green hills, now awash with different people and colorful exhibits.

Somehow, the three friends managed to stay together, and they slowly made their way across the rises of fresh green grass, dotted every now and then with small flowers in various bright colors, to where their class had set up their little food court. It was in an outer building, the drama building, to be exact. Later, there was a show scheduled, but Mr. Myoga had made sure that his class would be out of the building in time for the drama team to set up and get ready for their performance. Kagome wasn't sure whether or not she planned on going yet.

Once they got to the front of the building, Kagome had to say goodbye to Sango and Miroku, as their stand was set up on the other side of the building from hers and Inuyasha's. The class had been evenly split into groups of two, and each group had a stand at which they were expected to sell one item that no one else in the class had. Sango and Miroku got off easy, in Kagome's opinion; they got to make rice balls. Inuyasha and herself had had to pick near to last, so there hadn't been much of a choice left, and they had been forced to go with Inuyasha's pick of ramen, a simple dish that the half-demon seemed to be unhealthily obsessed with. Kagome had made sure to have the ramen homemade, however, and to make it at least somewhat unique. She wanted to get _some_ customers, after all.

Kagome made her way through the stands being set up by other members of her homeroom class, noticing, with relief, the significant absence of Naraku Bukimi. She stopped near the front of the large room, which would be filled with chairs later for the drama performance, over to her stand, which was just to the left of the stage, almost underneath it. Inuyasha wasn't there yet, of course, but that meant little to Kagome. Just that she would be able to set up the stand in peace and for once have a few moments' quiet.

Kagome opened up the folding table and placed a lightly colored table cloth over it, then began to set up the sign over the top, advertising her homemade ramen. Once she was done with that, the doors of the building were opened to the public, and Kagome was startled at just how many _people_ could actually fit in the one massive room. She hadn't but one dish on her table to be displayed before a group of parents were looking her over, appraising her food and asking how much she was charging.

It was ten minutes before Inuyasha finally decided to show up, strolling in through the madness like he owned the place. "Taisho!" Kagome called out desperately, anger tinging her voice. "Get over here and help me!" She currently had a pack of wolves trying to buy out all the pork ramen she had, and was having trouble keeping track of all of them and their money.

Though Inuyasha did hurry, and she had to give him props for that, it was not nearly urgent enough for her liking, and he didn't give much apology once he reached her. Kagome would have to scold him for that later, she decided. After the initial rush was over-which took the good part of the morning-Mr. Myoga called an hour break for the students to go look at their friends' exhibits, but they had to be back in time for the food court to open up again.

As Inuyasha was about to leave, Kagome caught him by the collar and dragged him back over to their stand, a sever look lighting her face. "Where were you?" she asked him, a disapproving look gracing her delicate features. "I am not exaggerating when I say there was a pack of ravenous wolves at my counter."

Inuyasha responded with his simple "Keh!" causing Kagome to scowl. At least he had managed to dress appropriately, she had to give him that. And he didn't look half bad either. Over a simple white kimono shirt he wore a fire red haori, and the same fire red in hakama form, reaching down to his ankles atop his unclad feet. His long white hair flowed over the red of his haori in crisp disparity, but somehow it fit quite well, along with the purple beads of the subjugation necklace upon his chest. He looked ... well, he looked _hot_.

"Why aren't you wearing shoes?" Kagome asked to distract herself from her increasingly disturbing thoughts.

Inuyasha snorted at her seemingly random comment. "Easier without them," he answered simply. "Now, can I go now, or would you like to interrogate me some more?" He gave her one of those knowing smirks that she just hated, and Kagome had the sudden urge to "sit" him, if just once.

She pushed the impulse away. "Yeah, you can go," she said, shooing him away with her hands. "But," she said, making him stop from where he was already walking away, "make sure it doesn't happen again."

Inuyasha gave another "Keh!" and walked away, leaving a steaming Kagome in his wake. She huffed and began to straighten her workspace angrily, as Sango and Miroku walked over cautiously.

"Is it safe to approach?" Sango asked, making Kagome look up from where she was angrily scrubbing a stain out of the table cloth.

She sighed. "Yeah, it's fine Sango. I just had to talk to Taisho for a moment about his tardiness and how it almost killed me." She gave a pained expression, and Sango and Miroku laughed, easing the tension between the small group.

The teens stayed around the food court for a couple minutes, going around to all the tables that still had students and trying out their food. Of course, Kagome had to try some of the rice balls that Sango and Miroku were selling-which were _delicious_, of course. She bought four, one for each of her family and then one for her.

After that, they went out to look at some other exhibits before their free period ended. They saw clothing of all colors outside of the drama building, matched with equally vivid displays. Foods of every kind-many of which Kagome had never even _heard_ of before-dotted the hills on their elegant displays, surrounded by clusters of people. Shows were being staged around every corner, put on by humans and demons alike, friends and families of both species crowding around in excitement so that the teens couldn't even see for the mass of bodies. And still, holy peoples stalked around every hill, carefully watching the demons and their offspring for any wrong moves. The demons ignored them for the most part, but Kagome could sense the tension in their auras and movements. They were aware of the precautionary humans, and only just tolerating their antics.

"Kagome," Sango asked curiously after a moment of walking, watching the wary holy peoples on duty. "Why don't you and Miroku have to patrol, anyway? You're a priestess, right? And you're a monk." She looked at her friends in turn, confusion turning to suspicion.

"Well, I don't have to; I didn't lie when I said that," explained Kagome, holding up her hands in defense. "Mr. Myoga got me a pass to ignore those duties and just work at the food court." Sango nodded in understanding, then both girls turned to Miroku suspiciously. "What about you, Miroku?"

"Well, actually...," he began, looking around subtly for something to distract them. "Oh, look, it's Kouga and Ayame!" The girls' eyes followed his pointed finger to another throng of people gathered around a makeshift stage, landing on the figures of Kouga and Ayame, dressed in the traditional fur pelts of their demonic ancestors. "We shouldn't be rude and ignore them!"

He walked off, laughing nervously. The girls looked at each other and rolled their eyes, then followed after him. They caught up to the others just as Miroku fell to the ground, propelled by Kouga's fist. The girls shook their heads at him.

"Why you little-" Kagome sighed and patted Kouga on the shoulder, stopping him from where he was about to hit Miroku again.

"What did he do this time, Kouga?" Sango asked, glaring at the heap of purple cloth laying dazed on the grass. Kagome could guess, knowing Miroku and seeing the scowling blush on Ayame's face.

"And you have the gall to call yourself a monk," Kouga spat at the heap on the ground, walking off, Ayame close by his side.

Kagome sighed and rolled her eyes, looking away from the fighting Sango and Miroku in front of her. Her eyes landed on the figure of a very annoying half-demon she just so happened to know, talking to a spiteful priestess she also happened to know.

Inuyasha and Kikyou. What were they doing together?

Kagome excused herself quietly-not that either of her friends heard her-and slowly stalked closer to the two through the crowd, trying to look inconspicuous. She didn't know why it mattered to her so much, but she wanted to know what they were talking about. Not that it was any of her business.

"I told you no, Kikyou." That was Inuyasha speaking. Kagome was pretending to watch the play in front of her, but she was only a couple feet away from them, hidden behind a young boy watching the actors on the stage.

"But, Inuyasha-" Kikyou started to argue, but she was cut off.

"I told you no, and that's final." Kagome didn't know what they were talking about-just that Kikyou wanted Inuyasha to do something that _he_ obviously didn't want to-and she snuck and glance at them, just in time to see Kikyou make her bold move.

Kagome turned back to the play, hands covering her mouth to muffle her gasp. She couldn't believe it. She didn't look at them again, just walked away, back towards Sango and Miroku, then past them, leaving them staring after her in confusion. She didn't know where she was going until she got there.

Kagome stopped in the middle of the archery range then, hearing the sounds of people out and about in the cultural festival, hid herself behind the lean-to building that housed the equipment, and was directly across from the hay targets. She sat down, her back against one of the wooden poles that held the lean-to up, and hugged her knees into her chest.

She kissed him. She had actually kissed him.

Kagome didn't have the courage to go back to the food court after her break was up, so she simply sat beneath the lean-to until the cultural festival was officially over, and people started to leave the campus. That was when Sango and Miroku finally found her, sitting there in the afternoon sun. They asked her what had happened, why she hadn't been in the food court earlier, but she simply answered with a shake of her head and an excuse of, "I didn't feel well." She could tell that neither of her friends believed her.

No one pressed her, though, and they all went to the little kids' school for leftovers. Kagome forgot about Inuyasha and Kikyou after a while, but, as she lay in bed that night, contently full of cake and soda, she couldn't seem to get the image out of her head, the image of Kikyou's lips meeting Inuyasha's.

And more, she couldn't get rid of the burning, hating jealousy that was eating at her stomach.

~o~o~o~o~

Gah! It's been so long! I'm so sorry! I had _major_ writer's block on this chapter. -.-; I'm still not quite satisfied with it, but neh. ~shrug~ Next chapter is the camping trip, which is what this fanfic was originally supposed to be about. That part should be more fun to write about. ^^


	5. Camping

I do not own or make a profit from Inuyasha. Rumiko Takahashi does. :'(

Only the original characters and the plot are mine.

~o~o~o~o~

Kagome groaned and rolled out of bed that morning, feeling a sense of unease falling over her. This day was not going to turn out well. It was Friday and school had been called off for a fall break today and on Monday. This weekend was the school camping trip, which Kagome was signed up to go on.

Kagome sighed, getting up out of her bed and going to her closet to get some clothes to change into. Her stuff was all packed from the night before, so she needn't worry about any of that. Right now, though, all she really wanted was a nice, long, hot shower. She didn't have to report to the school until noon, so she had plenty of time to relax and double-check her bag before she left.

Kagome grabbed a comfortable pair of dark blue jeans from her closet, along with a deep red, long sleeve shirt, and headed for the bathroom.

She savored the shower, waiting until the hot water started to run out before she dragged herself from it's comforting, humid warmth. She changed slowly, leisurely, then used a towel to pile her hair up on top of her head to dry. After that, she went downstairs for breakfast.

Her mother had already left for work and Souta to school (not _everyone_ got off, of course) so Kagome had the kitchen to herself, and a full refrigerator to pick from for her morning meal. But Kagome didn't really feel like cooking, so she had cold pancakes from the fridge, eating them straight off the Syrian-wrapped plate as she went into the living room to watch some morning television.

She went to the weather channel first to see how her trip was going to be and, finding it to her satisfaction, quickly switched to cartoons. She watched a few episodes of Naruto and a couple Yu Yu Hakusho before she decided it was probably time to start doing something productive and got up, turning off the TV and throwing the remote back on the sofa.

Kagome went back up to the bathroom to attempt to tame her hair, finding that she had left it too long in its odd position atop her head and now it had managed to tangle itself horribly. She scowled at her reflection in the mirror, then took a brush and started to attack the midnight locks. It took a while-a _long_ while-but Kagome finally managed to get her hair back to where it was supposed to be, flowing down her shoulders in light waves made from the unusual assortment that her hair had dried in. It didn't look bad, though, and Kagome kind of liked it, so she didn't bother trying to change it as she threw her brush back in the drawer and made her way back to her room.

Now it was time to check her luggage. Pajamas; three pairs of clothes for the three days that she would be up there, plus extra shirts and undies; a warm purple knit hat; hiking boots, in case the trail got too difficult for her regular tennis shoes; a flashlight for the dark nights up on the mountain; a warm sleeping bag, which said it was good up to ten degrees below zero; a warm blanket, just in case the sleeping bag was lying; fuzzy socks, because her feet often got cold in the night; mittens; a small, hand-held radio with a little winder so that she could recharge the batteries manually should they give out on her; two thermoses, one for water and one for hot cocoa; a small book of English sayings to study when she got bored; a camera, to capture every minute; and a first aid kit, which her mom had made her pack.

Kagome nodded in satisfaction, then went back to the bathroom to brush her teeth, packing the toothbrush, toothpaste, a brush, and a small stick of deodorant into a large, zip-lock bag and taking it back to her room to pack with the rest of her things. Now she felt ready. Kagome plopped back onto her bed, sighing heavily and closing her eyes, wondering what to do next. Just as she was about to sigh again, Kagome heard the doorbell ring downstairs, and hurried down to see who it was.

It was Sango, which was a pleasant surprise to Kagome, who wasn't expecting to see her friend until they got to school. Kagome joyfully let her in, and showed her up to her room. Sango explained that she was simply bored waiting alone in her room with her anticipation, so she had decided to come over to Kagome's house and see if her friend was up yet. Kagome scowled at that, and proudly reported that she had been up for most of the morning.

"So, how is this going to work, anyway?" Kagome asked after all the greetings were over with and they were sitting on her bed up in her second-story room. "I mean, where are we going, and how are we going to get there?"

Sango rolled her eyes. "Didn't you read the letter they sent out, Kagome?" She shook her head and explained. "We're going by bus over to Mt. Fuji, then we're going to climb it tonight so that we can, hopefully, get to the top in time to see the go rei kou."

Kagome's eyes widened and she let out a soft, "Ooh!" of appreciation. "Wow, maybe I should have read that letter."

Sango just rolled her eyes again. "Yeah, just maybe. But we're going to split up into groups of six students and one supervisor to climb up. I hope we're together." Kagome nodded and hugged her friend.

"Come on! Now I'm more excited than ever!" Kagome jumped up and grabbed a very surprised Sango by the hand, dragging her from the bed. "We can probably get walking now, right?"

Sango stared for a moment, then started to laugh at her friend's enthusiasm and nodded. Kagome smiled widely and picked up her duffel bag of stuff for the weekend, dragging it down the stairs quickly and waiting at the bottom for Sango to join her.

"Do you have your stuff with you?" Kagome asked, wiping a bit of sweat from her brow.

Sango nodded. "Yeah, I've got it." She picked it up from the kitchen, where Kagome hadn't even noticed she'd stored it before. "Now let's get going before you implode," she said, laughing.

Kagome pouted, then laughed with her, and made her way out the door, waiting until Sango was through as well to close and lock it. They then started pulling their heavy bags down the massive staircase in front of Kagome's family shrine, and then down the street towards the school, both tingling with excitement.

They got to the school just as it was opening its doors for students to come in and load their luggage onto the massive buses that were going to transport the students and staff the sixty miles to Mt. Fuji.

Kagome and Sango were wrapped up in the commotion of getting ready for a while, and then, once everyone was there, Headmistress Kaede called for a quiet in the Banquet Room and began her speech.

"Students, today ye will be traveling to Mt. Fuji-" pause for applause and whoops of excitement "-for a weekend on the mountain. Ye have been split into groups of six by your homeroom teachers and myself, in which ye will climb the mountain, camp out, and make your way back down.

"Now, for some rules." Groans erupted around the room, but the Headmistress quickly silenced them with a glare. "The school dress code still stands, though ye are not required to wear your school uniforms. Demons and humans, nor girls and boys, may sleep in the same tent. The restriction is two to a tent, which have been provided by myself and the staff.

"Ye will not go anywhere alone, and ye will always tell your group leader where ye are going before ye leave, and who ye are taking with you. No one will be lost on this trip." She let her one-eyed gaze glide slowly over the crowd, making sure every single student understood her perfectly well. Not that any of them were planning on getting lost.

"Lastly, please try to enjoy yourselves. And thank ye for supporting and representing our school!" The crowd erupted into applause and whistles and whoops again as Headmistress Kaede finished her speech, smiling down at them as a mother would her rowdy children.

Kagome and Sango smiled at each other, and made their way over to Mr. Myoga's homeroom class to get their groups, crossing fingers that they would be put into the same one. They had to look around for a moment to find their teacher once they got over to where the other students from their homeroom class were gathering, as he was too small for them to see right off the bat.

Mr. Akitoki, the Headmistress's secretary, was over there as well, and he raised his hand a little sheepishly to get the students' attention. "Students of Mr. Myoga's homeroom class," he said in a clear, albeit shaky, voice to get their attention. Everyone turned to him at once, placing their piercing glances on the inexperienced man, and his gulp was almost audible.

"Um, I-I will be speaking for Mr. Myoga today," he said, lowering his hand once he was sure that he had everyone's attention. He looked around himself for a moment before pulling something out of his pants pocket and holding it up to inspect. A folded paper. He unfolded it, cleared his throat, and began to read.

"The first group will be Sango, Miroku-" groan from Sango, lecherous smile from Miroku "-Kouga, Ayame-" happy squeal from Ayame, toothy grin from Kouga "-Kagome-" happy cheers from Kagome and Sango "-and Inuyasha." Kagome's celebrations stopped as she turned to glare at the half-demon, slouching apathetically on the edge of the crowd. Why _him_ of all people?

Mr. Akitoki continued to announce the groups, and once he was done, Sango raised her hand to ask a question. "I thought these groups were supposed to be within our homeroom classes. Kouga, Ayame, nor Miroku are in our homeroom class, and yet they're in our camping group." She cocked her head quizzically, waiting for an answer.

Mr. Akitoki cleared his throat, waiting a moment before he answered her question. "They were going to be just within the homeroom classes originally, but the teachers and Headmistress Kaede thought it would be a good idea to allow students to mingle more, and thus the groups were changed to allow people from different homerooms to be in the same camping group and get to know each other better."

Sango hid her disappointment and simply nodded as Miroku came over to stand next to her. She gave him a heated glare, and walked off, leaving a confused Miroku and a rueful Kagome. Maybe she should have just stayed in bed today.

After all the groups were announced, the teachers had the nearly impossible job of loading the students onto the three double-decker buses. Things didn't go too smoothly at first. If it wasn't people getting lost or trampled in the commotion, it was people trying to split off from their groups to get on with their friends instead, or people who weren't supposed to be on the top of the buses sneaking up to look out at the world, or people going off to the bathroom without telling anyone and the staff freaking out over a "lost" student. Simply put, that next half hour was pretty much pure mayhem.

Kagome, Sango, and the rest of their group got on without problem, and found their seats on the top floor quickly. There were two rows of three on either side of the bus, grouped so that three seats were facing the ones behind them and six students could sit facing each other, so the groups were pretty well set up where they should sit. In Kagome's group, it ended up being girls facing boys on either side, with Ayame facing Kouga, Sango facing Miroku, and Kagome facing Inuyasha.

Just fan-fricking-tastic.

And so, as the ride began, Ayame and Kouga became wrapped up in their own little world of conversation; Miroku tried many times to get the attention of Sango, who hit him on the head each of those times; Sango complained to Kagome about their group, while her friend listened silently, nodding in agreement every now and then, turning to scowl at the half-demon sitting across from her occasionally; and Inuyasha stared out the window, silent and stoic as he had been these past days. _Well, it's better than hearing his jibes_, Kagome consoled herself as she listened to Sango rant on.

After the torturous hour and a half long ride to the base of the mountain, everyone was thankful to get off the buses and stretch their sore limbs. Kagome pouted again and scooted as far away from Inuyasha as she could while still staying in range of Mr. Akitoki's sight and hearing. It appeared that he was going to be their staff guide for the hike. Well, it was better than Mr. Myoga. She couldn't even see the little flea.

"Well, it seems we arrived ahead of schedule." Kagome turned to look at Mr. Akitoki as he said that. What did that mean for them? "So, Ms. Kaguya has decided that it would be nice to give the students a choice. We can either hang out here at the buses until our scheduled time to begin the climb, or we could go a little ways up the mountain for a scavenger hunt."

"Ooh, ooh, ooh!" Ayame started jumping up and down excitedly. "We should do the scavenger hunt!"

Mr. Akitoki's eyes widened slightly at Ayame's enthusiasm, then he turned to the rest of the group. "Well? Shall we vote, then?"

Ayame nodded eagerly and Kouga shrugged, grinning. "Sure."

"Okay, then. All in favor of going on the scavenger hunt?" Ayame, Kouga, and Miroku all raised their hands. A slightly worried expression appeared on Mr. Akitoki's face as he continued. "All in favor of staying here?" Sango raised her hand.

Mr. Akitoki's eyes widened more as he turned to Kagome and Inuyasha, who were stubbornly looking away from each other, Kagome's arms crossed over her chest, Inuyasha's hanging limply at his sides. "Inuyasha, Kagome, you didn't vote," he commented. "Can I take that to mean that you two don't have a preference?"

"I don't really care what we do; I'll go along with what everyone else decides," said Kagome, shrugging tiredly.

Inuyasha shrugged as well. "I don't care either."

Mr. Akitoki nodded and turned back to the rest of the group. "That means that we're going on the scavenger hunt. Anyone want to get anything before we leave?" The group all went back to the bus to get some stuff to take on their short trip.

Kagome took out a blanket and wrapped up her things in it to make everything easier to carry. She took her flashlight, her rechargeable radio, her thermoses, her first aid kit, her camera, and her hat and mittens, which she put on in preparation for the cold higher altitude. After that, Kagome slung the sack over her shoulder, and looked at the others to see that she was packing the most stuff out of all of her group. Oh, well. She tended to do that, but at least she would have everything she might need.

Mr. Akitoki clapped his hands to get their attention, and began to speak once everyone was looking at him. "Okay, we will split into three teams of two. Teams will be boy-girl. So, Kouga and Ayame, you're a team." Ayame squealed in delight and tackled Kouga, causing Mr. Akitoki to stop for a moment and clear his throat before continuing. "Miroku and Sango will be a team-" groan from Sango, cheer from Miroku "-and that leaves Inuyasha and Kagome." Kagome balked, and Inuyasha appeared to be grinning, almost as if he was enjoying her discomfort.

Mr. Akitoki cleared his throat again. "Here is a list of the things you'll be looking for." He handed one to a member from every team. Inuyasha got his theirs, so Kagome didn't get to see what was on it. "Now, rules. Remember the school rules, please. Keep physical contact to a minimum and be sure to get back here by the deadline." Everyone nodded, and Mr. Akitoki sent them off with another warning not to forget the time limit.

Kagome started off into the woods, forcing Inuyasha to follow after her if they were going to stay together. They walked in silence for a long while, Kagome seething on the path in front of the half-demon, and Inuyasha following silently behind, smirking at his thoughts.

Finally, after nearly fifteen minutes of walking aimlessly through the trees, slowly getting closer to the top, Inuyasha cleared his throat and walked up beside Kagome. "Don't you think we should be looking for some of the stuff on the list?" he asked, holding out the piece of paper to her.

Kagome shrugged, and moved a little away from him. "I don't really care. It's not like I wanted to go on this scavenger hunt in the first place." Inuyasha nodded slowly and slowed down to walk behind her again, sensing that she really needed some time alone right now.

Meanwhile, Kagome was walking in front of him, incensed and wondering why she even signed up to go on this stupid trip in the first place. _It's just one bad thing after another_, she thought to herself, kicking a small rock out of her way on the path. _I doubt it could get any worse than this_. And, in the way of jinxes, it did. Infinitely worse.

"Watch out!" Inuyasha yelled, tackling her to the ground just as a tentacle shot through the air where she had been but a moment before.

"What the-" Kagome grunted, trying to free herself and see what was going on, but Inuyasha knew. He picked her up and started jumping through the trees away from the danger. "What the heck! Put me down, Taisho!" Kagome yelled, trying to squirm out of his grip.

Inuyasha glanced at her and growled. "Quiet!" he hissed, glancing back behind them. "He'll hear you."

"Who!" Kagome asked in exasperation, finally stopping her struggling for fear of falling out of his arms and into the quickly passing trees beneath them.

"He's finally come back," Inuyasha muttered. "Naraku Bukimi."

~o~o~o~o~

御霊光 "Go rei kou" means spiritual light; that's what people call the sunrise on Mt. Fuji. ^^

No, I have never been to Mt. Fuji, nor Japan, so please excuse me if some of my logistics are off. .

Gah! I am _so_ dead! I've been procrastinating and now I'm only halfway done with my story! Which needs to be done by tomorrow, by the way. So, expect to see a lot of updates from here on out. I have to get the next five chapters done in a day and a half. -.-;

Anywho, in case peoples don't remember, Naraku's last name means "creepy," and yes, I did give it to him because he didn't have one. ^^ I think it suits him.


	6. Mt Fuji

I do not own or make a profit from Inuyasha. Rumiko Takahashi does. :'(

Only the original characters and the plot are mine.

~o~o~o~o~

NOTICE: This chapter has strong references to rape and a lemon. If you do not like that kind of stuff, don't read it. I'm not going to mark it off because I think that ruins the flow of the story.

~o~o~o~o~

"What do you mean, Naraku Bukimi?" Kagome cried, struggling more in Inuyasha's arms to try to get a look at their pursuer.

Inuyasha growled again as she began to slip out of his grip. "Hold still," he hissed, pulling her tighter to his chest and running faster. "Naraku's still after us."

Kagome was about to say something else, but just as she opened her mouth, another tentacle shot out of the trees and just barely missed Inuyasha's side as he jumped out of the way. "He's getting closer," Inuyasha muttered, jumping back down to the ground next to a hot spring, placing Kagome on the far side of the spring, so that it was between her and Naraku.

"_You_ stay _here_," commanded Inuyasha, dead serious as he looked her in the eyes, then jumped back over the spring and back into the trees to where Naraku was.

"Taisho!" Kagome called, holding out a hand to try to stop him. "Taisho! _Inuyasha_!" Kagome huffed in irritation and looked for a way around the spring. She wasn't just going to stand there and let them fight. It wasn't like she really cared what happened to either of them, but if something happened to Inuyasha because he was fighting Naraku, Kagome didn't want it staining her conscience.

"Ow," Kagome muttered as she stepped wrong on a loose rock and it shifted, causing her to put pressure on her ankle oddly. Luckily it wasn't twisted, though. Kagome scrunched up her brow in concentration and looked for a way around the spring. It looked like the only way to get to the other side was to either cross the water or climb the mountain at her back...

There! Kagome saw it. A small strip of earth to her right, stretching almost all the way to the edge of the spring. _Perfect_, Kagome thought, placing her back on the wall and shuffling along the small ledge, trying to keep her feet from touching the water.

Just as Kagome finally got to the larger land mass at the end of the spring-having to jump the rest of the way-she heard a yell of victory and a loud boom. She looked up, and saw something halfway comical, halfway terrifying. Inuyasha, flying from his position in the woods but moment before, almost all the way to the other side of the mountain. That meant that Naraku had won. And that meant...

Kagome ran. But she wasn't fast enough. A hideous tentacle wrapped around her neck, pulling her backwards into something hard. She coughed as black spots danced in her vision from the impact, instinctively grabbing the tentacle and trying to wrench it free, allowing herself to breathe once again.

The tentacle loosened just a bit, only enough to allow her to rasp in a few shaky breaths. "You won't get away from me this time, my priestess." That same voice, the same oily tendrils of hair sliding over her shoulders and neck.

It was happening again.

Kagome screamed. The earsplitting shriek rocketed through the forest in almost visible sound waves, causing birds from trees near and far to join in the deafening screech and fly from their safe perches in the trees. There was a growl from behind her, and soon another tentacle was shoved over her mouth to silence her. Still, surely someone had heard her. Surely they would know something was wrong. Surely they would come to her rescue...

But no one was coming, and Kagome knew it. She and Inuyasha had traveled too far up the mountain-much further than they were supposed to-and now they were way out of anyone's way. Inuyasha... She really hoped her wasn't dead.

Naraku growled again, then smirked next to her face, sliding his repulsive tongue along the skin of her cheek, making her shiver and try to pull away. "That's it. Struggle, priestess. Struggle." Naraku let out a maniacal chuckle and pulled her body closer to his own, pressing himself into her lower back.

Tears leaked from Kagome's eyes as she tried to arch her body away from his, but he was strong, and now that he had more limbs, her struggles were easily subdued. And now that Inuyasha wasn't here to save her, she had no way of escape. It was really going to happen this time. He was really going to rape her.

Naraku chuckled again, feeling the cold sweat break out on her skin and sensing the fear emitting from her body. In his sick, twisted way, he was enjoying this. Every time she screamed, every time she struggled away from his hold, just made him that much harder.

He let a tentacle drag down her body, feeling her curves and stopping on the rim of her jeans. _Please no, please no, please no_. Kagome couldn't think much more than that one chant in her head. _Please no, please-_

The tentacle continued tracing the rim of her jeans until Naraku got bored with that, and decided that Kagome needed to be tortured a little more. The tentacle moved to the front of her jeans and unbuttoned them, then tore them down her legs, along with her panties.

Kagome screamed in terror again, but the sound was muffled by the tentacle covering her mouth. Naraku smirked evilly and let the tentacle wander back up her toned legs, slowly, slowly. It got to her thighs, and Kagome's tears increased in flow, streaming over the tentacle covering her mouth and down onto the ground.

Another evil smirk, and the tentacle down on her thighs shot upward. Kagome prepared for penetration, squeezing her legs together in an attempt to keep him out, but as it turns out, that wasn't necessary.

Just as the tentacle touched the first curly hairs of her most sacred place, Kagome and Naraku were enveloped in a bright pink light of purification. Kagome cried out hoarsely in delight, and the sound actually made it out into the air, as Naraku's tentacles were beginning to dissolve. The sickly appendage on her legs slowly dematerialized into dust and floated softly to the ground, and the ones on her mouth and neck harmlessly followed suit.

Kagome fell forward onto the ground, coughing and sputtering as she held her neck in one hand and supported her shaky body with the other. She felt more dust float down from Naraku behind her, and she cautiously turned on her hands and knees to look at him.

His tentacles were all gone, and the evil red glint in his wide eyes was beginning to disappear as he was wrapped in calming pink light. Kagome watched in amazement as the creepy Naraku Bukimi that she used to know was consumed in the light and changed completely.

Naraku was set softly on the ground as the last of the light left the small clearing by the spring, and Kagome stared at him in astonishment for a few moment before gaining the courage to shuffle over to his body and look at him more closely. His oily black hair had smoothed out to look more like hers, almost like it was finally healthy. The deathly pallor in his face had lifted to give him more of an appearance of life, of youth. The sharp claws on his hands had smoothed out into fingernails, and his aura had leveled off from a completely chaotic clump of dark, twisting masses to one of simple glassy blackness, like a clean-cut peace of obsidian.

It was almost like he was... human.

Kagome shuddered at the thought and quickly scuttled away from him again, staring in fear at the inanimate body she expected to awaken any moment now and attack her again. But it didn't move, and slowly Kagome's heart began to beat again. She stared at her scraped and dirt-stained hands.

What had she done? She had... made Naraku human? Purified the demon blood in him and left him with only human blood to rely on? How was that possible? She had always been taught that purification was a one-way deal: if any part of them is impure, the entire being would be destroyed. So why was it that now, she could suddenly separate the demon blood from the human blood in a half-demon and take away only the impure and leave the rest as it was? She had never heard of anything like it.

Well, miracle or not, Kagome wasn't going to stick around and wait for him to wake up. Even without his half-demon blood, Naraku was still stronger than her, and probably harbored a very large grudge now that she had taken away his source of power and left him as a helpless human.

Kagome stood up and wobbled slightly before grabbing onto a nearby tree for support. It wasn't so much that she was physically injured-though her throat was still quite sore-just that she was in shock about... everything. She needed to get away from him, though, fast. That was one thing she knew for sure.

Kagome pulled her pants back up and began hobbling away through the trees, using them for support when she felt the need, fear driving her to forget the burning pain in her throat and continue on towards... any direction except where Naraku was. She shivered even at the mere thought of his name. That was definitely going to be a mental scar.

Kagome walked for maybe ten minutes before her rasping breath forced her to stop and take refuge among the trees for a few moments, wheezing and panting heavily. What she wouldn't give for some water right now...

And, almost as if the world was trying to make up for the former grief it had put her through, Kagome looked out at the trees again, and saw a small patch of bold blue sticking through the brush. Hope spurring her to action, Kagome forced herself up from her seat at the base of a large tree and shambled over to the deep blue cloth, smiling faintly in relief when she saw the blanket that she had wrapped her supplies in before she had left the parking lot with the others, out for a scavenger hunt.

Kagome shivered as she wrenched open the cloth and pulled out her water thermos, feeling another mental scar forming. Never again would she agree to go on a scavenger hunt, she vowed as she chugged the sweet, life-giving water, healing her hurt throat and boosting her energy.

Kagome finished the whole thermos of water and contemplated drinking the hot chocolate too before she pushed the thought away and retied her blanket into a bag. She slung the makeshift sack over her shoulder and continued walking away from where she had left Naraku, roughly in the direction of where she had seen Inuyasha fly before.

She really hoped he was okay. If he wasn't, that was just another thing to add to her List Of Things To Do On The Worst Day Of My Life. Kagome sighed, thankfully not as raspy as before, and looked up to see and small cave in the side of the mountain off in the distance. She knew she shouldn't give up on Inuyasha, but it was getting darker, and she had to stop early if she wanted to make camp before it got too cold and dark.

Thinking of the cold, Kagome got an idea. She set down her bag and shuffled through it for a moment before pulling out her hand-held radio. _Please have reception_, she silently prayed as she turned it onto the weather channel and began to wind the little machine.

At first, there was just the loud crackle of static in her ear, and Kagome winced at the noise and sighed in defeat. But then something began to come in. Kagome's face lit up in slight hope, and she stood to help the radio catch the waves it needed to tell her the information she wanted.

"Emergency warning for Shizuoka prefecture," the radio cackled out, and Kagome's eyes widened in fear. Mt. Fuji was in Shizuoka prefecture. She listened more closely. "Severe weather warning for eastern Shizuoka. Severe blizzard storms in the area. Emergency wanting for Shizuoka prefecture. Severe blizzard storms..."

Kagome nearly dropped the radio. What rotten luck she was having! Of course, it just _had_ to be eastern Shizuoka! That was where she was! Kagome almost screamed in frustration, but she still had the state of mind to remember her sore throat and thought better of it, stowing the radio in her bag again and stomping over to the cave.

She pulled out the flashlight from her bag and flicked it on, searching around the entrance of the cave before she ventured in further, shivering in the clammy air. She went back as far as she could, until the cave came to a dead end, and then she sighed heavily and set herself down on the cold rock, huddling with her flashlight close to her body.

She didn't hear the other until he was upon her. "Gah!" she yelped as strong arms wrapped around torso and pulled her into a warm chest. Thinking it was Naraku again, Kagome screamed, but the noise was abruptly cut off by a low growl from the being behind her. As soon as she quieted, the growling stopped, and a purr began to sound through the cave.

What the heck?

Kagome shifted in the grip to try to get a look at her captor, but as soon as she moved, the arms around her waist tightened and kept her from moving further. "Hey!" Kagome cried indignantly. "What do you think you're-"

Another loud growl erupted from behind her, and Kagome quieted again, gulping loudly next to the now purring being. But she still couldn't see who the heck it was! She was scared to try to look again. What if the creature grew tired of her and decided to do more than simply growl at her next time? Still...

As Kagome was about to turn her head to at least try to get a good look at the mysterious being, she felt one of the hands wrapped around her waist travel lower. "Hey!" she cried again, forgetting about not wanting to upset the being.

Before she could say anything else, or try to squirm away again, she felt herself being flipped over and her back pressed heavily against the cave floor, causing her to drop the flashlight. She could still see who it was, though.

"I-I-Inuyasha?" Kagome stuttered partly surprised, partly relieved, and partly scared at his sudden appearance. What was he doing here? Wasn't he hurt by Naraku before?

Inuyasha simply purred again, and that was when Kagome got a good look at his eyes. His irises were slitted and bright blue, and the whites of his eyes were no longer white. They were bright red. Just like when he had gotten angry in Headmistress Kaede's office after he had been forced into wearing the beads of subjugation.

"A-ah, I-Inuyasha," stuttered Kagome hesitantly, scared to see him like this. Why wasn't he going back to normal? Was something the matter? Inuyasha simply continued staring into her eyes from his position straddling her body. "I-"

Kagome was cut off as Inuyasha's mouth came down to cover hers and swallow up her words. Kagome let out an "Eep!" of surprise, then melted into the kiss. It just felt so... right. And yet...

Kagome pushed him away lightly, turning her head to the side so that he couldn't stop her speaking again. "Inuyasha, what are you doing?" she asked, a slight quaver shaking her voice.

Inuyasha didn't answer, simply growled again and pulled her face back to his, lowering himself onto her in the process. Kagome gasped at his sudden advance-like he hadn't done that before-and Inuyasha took the opportunity to invade her mouth, tasting every corner of her sweet being.

Kagome couldn't help but melt into him again, but still she was hesitant. What was he planning to do? And could he even think rationally in this state? Inuyasha's lips moved from her mouth to her throat, then down to the rim of her shirt. Upon finding it, he growled in dissatisfaction.

Oh, so that's what he wanted.

"I-Inuyasha...," Kagome said, trying to make an effort not to stutter so much. Red eyes turned back to her questioningly. Kagome gulped and the stutter came back. "W-w-what are you...? W-why n-now...?" She couldn't seem to string her thoughts together into a complete sentence. Not for fear. There was some strange, foreign emotion blocking her voice box and turning her tongue to fur. It sat in the pit of her stomach, aching for... something. Something foreign to her virgin body.

An almost predatory smirk came across Inuyasha's features, and Kagome shivered again, but not for the cold cave atmosphere. With inhuman speed, Kagome's shirt was off and lying on the floor some feet away from them. Now Kagome was blushing brightly, clad only in her bra and pants. And soon a claw slid down the valley between her breasts, slitting the light fabric so that her chest was fully exposed.

Kagome gasped and crossed her arms in front of her chest, trying to shield herself from the eyes of the world. Inuyasha scowled and pulled at her hands, trying to get her to loosen up and calm down. Like she could.

"P-p-please...," Kagome said in a pleading voice, shutting her eyes tightly and curling into herself. "Please, stop."

Inuyasha cocked his head in confusion and kissed under her jaw comfortingly, like a puppy trying to calm its upset master. Kagome shivered again, but kept her eyes stubbornly closed. Inuyasha made a face and continued to kiss a line down her neck, looking for her sweet spot.

He could tell when he hit it. Her eyes shot open and a gasp sprung from her mouth. Inuyasha smirked again and continued to suckle on that one spot, sending all thoughts of rebellion from Kagome's head and replacing them with a pink haze of pure pleasure.

They were both breathing more harshly now, more pants than breaths, really. Inuyasha continued his ministrations of her neck, all the while slowly dragging a claw along the rim of her jeans. Kagome's nonexistent thoughts halted. This was so familiar. Her thoughts flashed back to the clearing by the spring, Naraku following that exact same motion around her waist.

Inuyasha felt her hesitation return and softened his movements, massaging the skin of her waist lightly. Kagome gasped again and Inuyasha knew that he was doing something right. He continued torturing her sweet spot and massaging her waist as his hand slowly got closer to the button of her jeans.

There, Kagome's hand stopped his own. She was staring up at the ceiling, trying to sort through her muddled thoughts. Did she really want to do this? Right here? Right now? With him? She knew the answer to the last one, but really, right now?

Inuyasha was silent and still to let her think, and Kagome finally came to a decision. She looked down into his eyes finally, to find them gone back to their regular topaz beauty, staring at her in silent question. Kagome simply took her hand from his and used it to brush a lock of hair from his eyes.

"I've always loved your eyes," she said quietly, then smiled at his surprised expression and pulled his head to hers to kiss him on the lips again. Inuyasha took that as an invitation and began to undo the button on her pants. In turn, Kagome reached for his jeans, sliding them off without hindrance, then making quick work of his shirt the same way.

They were both panting heavily now, and Kagome smiled mischievously as she kissed him again, holding his body close to his. "I want you... now..."

Inuyasha smirked at her impatience and slowly cut off her panties with a claw, teasing her. Now it was Kagome's turn to growl and pout at him. "What?" he asked huskily, knowing full well what it was she wanted.

Kagome wiggled closer to him. "You know what." She pouted again and slid his boxers off. And then she took a bold move. One hand still draped over his lower back, the other snuck around front to grab him and squeeze hard.

Inuyasha groaned and bit her collarbone playfully. "You're too irresistible for your own good." Kagome smirked, but on the inside she was seriously thinking about his words, about how Naraku had stalked her as far as Mt. Fuji...

But then he entered her, and all thoughts of anything else left her mind. This was it.

~o~o~o~o~

Okay, I had to do a little research for this chapter, about Mt. Fuji and all, so please excuse me if my logistics are off again. As I said in the last chapter, I've never been to Japan, so...

Now that that's out of the way: Nya! First lemon! I hope it doesn't suck too bad. -.-; I'm _way_ inexperienced in this kind of thing, so try not to hate me too much. ~ducks rocks~

Gah! Hopefully I can get four more chapters written today! I'm doing this for KatiechanXoxoXSesshoukun's October contest, remember, and October ends today! Good thing I'm such a socially awkward hermit that I'm not going anywhere tonight. -.-;


	7. Coming Home

I do not own or make a profit from Inuyasha. Rumiko Takahashi does. :'(

Only the original characters and the plot are mine.

~o~o~o~o~

"I am very disappointed in you Naraku. What is this?" The figure gestured to his human form, which was kneeling on the ground in front of her.

Naraku bowed his head lower, almost kissing the ground at her feet. "Please, forgive my failure. It will not happen again."

"No, it won't." The figure knelt down and softly slid her finger along his jawline, almost as if in preparation to break it. "Because I don't give second chances," Kikyou finished, grinning menacingly.

~o~o~

Kagome sat up quickly from her slumber, breathing heavily. What a strange dream she had had. She had dreamed... Her thoughts came to a sudden halt as she realized that she was naked, in a cave, under a blanket with Inuyasha.

That was never a good sign.

Kagome clutched for the blanket in front of her and held it up to her chest, trying to hide herself from the world. It was all coming back to her now. The previous night... It made her shudder just thinking about it, and a small fire ignited in her loins. Ouch. That was going to hurt.

"Hm? What is it?" asked Inuyasha, sitting up and yawning widely. He saw Kagome sitting next to him, knees curled up to her chest, blanket pulled up over them, and smiled fondly. He moved to envelop her in a hug, but she scuffled out of his way, taking most of the blanket with her.

"Kagome, what's the matter?" he asked, reaching for her again, only to see her scuttle back again. "Damn it, Kagome. Tell me what's wrong," he said, scowling but not making a move towards her again. He had learned his lesson there, not that he understood why she was behaving like she was.

Kagome just stared at him with eyes wide in astonishment and fear. It was painful to see her look at him like that. Why? Why, after what had passed between them the night before, was she suddenly avoiding him like this?

All Kagome could do was shake her head as tears began to form in her eyes. It was almost as if she was... possessed last night. She couldn't trust herself right now, and that meant she couldn't trust anyone else either. Especially Inuyasha.

Inuyasha scowled at the tears and used his half-demon speed to get close to her without allowing her time to run and grab her wrist to keep her from moving again. Kagome gasped as his sudden movement, then flinched away from his contact. Inuyasha place his face right next to hers and whispered softly into her ear. "Okay, now tell me what's the matter. Did I hurt you?"

Kagome shook her head, closing her eyes as the tears began to spill over, and pressed her lips together to keep herself from saying anything stupid. Inuyasha watched her for a moment, but when her position didn't change, he sighed in defeat and let go of her wrist.

Kagome opened her eyes just a crack to see him sitting a little ways away from her, running a hand through his hair frustratedly. She took her free chance to go back to wear her clothes were and get changed, keeping the blanket wrapped around her shoulders because she was still quite cold.

That's right. There was supposed to be a blizzard in the region. Kagome stood up, a little shaky on her feet from the pain in her loins, and began walking over to the front of the cave, looking out carefully at the soft blanket of white snow covering the landscape. There wasn't much, but maybe they had gotten lucky and only gotten an edge of the storm.

Kagome looked back to see Inuyasha standing next to her, strangely silent for him. She scooted away from him uncomfortably again, but he showed no signs that he heard or saw her move. If only she could know what was going on in his head right now. That would make everything so much simpler.

Kagome's musings were cut off by the beating of helicopter blades off in the distance. Kagome's eyes lit up and she threw the blanket at Inuyasha in an attempt to make him cover himself, then raced out of the cave to look for the rescue party. Inuyasha got the message, and went back into the cave to dress and get Kagome's stuff, coming back out just as Kagome led the helicopter to land in the treeless space in front of the cave.

They were ushered into the machine and Inuyasha gave Kagome her bag, at which Kagome simply nodded at him in thanks and turned to look excitedly out the windows, all the while saying nothing, as they were taken back home.

~o~o~

"Kagome!" The yell was simultaneous from several different people. Kagome was enveloped in the arms of her mother, Souta, Sango, Ayame, Shippo, Miroku, and Kouga all at the same time, making it difficult for her to breath for a moment before they all pulled away, laughing in relief.

Kagome laughed with them for a moment before breaking down into tears and crying on her mother's shoulder as everyone patted her on the back and congratulated her for surviving out there all by herself. Well, almost.

No one came to thank the Gods that Inuyasha was still alive. Kikyou came over briefly to flirt with him, but he turned her away coldly, as she stomped off with barely hidden scowl. The only other person there for Inuyasha was his older brother and caretaker Sesshomaru, who was just silent and stoic as he came to take the boy home. No one even noticed their absence.

After Kagome had cried out all she could and everyone had settled down, Kagome's mother took her and Souta home. Kagome sat in the backseat of the car, waving tearily to her friends still outside. Inside, however, she was breaking. What was she supposed to do now? She was no longer a virgin, that was obvious, but how was she supposed to act at school now? Especially since she and Inuyasha were still connected by that stupid necklace that Headmistress Kaede had made him wear. Kagome resolved to take it off the next time she saw him, though that wasn't going to be too soon.

Once the car reached Kagome's home, she climbed out wearily and moved to go get her things from the back. "I got it, Sis," said Souta, coming around from the back carrying her heavy bag. Kagome just nodded emotionlessly and walked into the house, up the stairs, and into her room. Souta followed and set the bag down by her desk, then left, sensing that Kagome really needed some down time right now.

Kagome sighed heavily and fell back onto her bed, laying there for a moment before she felt something touch her stomach. It was just Buyo, her family cat. Kagome smiled and patted him on the head, making the feline purr in contentment. But she stopped there. How similar that purr was to the one in the cave, the one that had come from Inuyasha.

Kagome pushed her memories away and rolled off of her bed, pulling out the radio from her bag. She could always ask her mother for a _real_ radio, but Kagome was too tired right now, so she simply lay back on her bed and set the radio on her bed side table, turning it on to a random music station.

"When you cried I'd wipe away all of your tears.

When you'd scream I'd fight away all of your fears.

And I held your hand through all of these years.

But you still have,

All of me."

Kagome made a face. It wasn't that she didn't like that song, she really loved it. It just... reminded her of other things now. She changed the station.

~o~o~

Inuyasha was in a similar predicament. He sat in his own room, listening to his own radio, on a different station.

"Yeah, you got me begging, begging.

Baby, please don't go.

If I wake up tomorrow, will you still be here?

I don't know,

If you feel the way I do.

If you leave I'm gonna find you."

Inuyasha scowled and jammed his finger down on the button on his radio remote, changing the channel.

~o~o~

Back at Kagome's house, the next station wasn't much better than the first.

"Cause when you're fifteen and,

Somebody tells you they love you,

You're gonna believe them.

And when you're fifteen,

Feeling like,

There's nothing to figure out.

Well, count to ten, take it in.

This life before you know,

Who you're gonna be.

Fifteen."

Kagome didn't reach for the radio that time. "Somebody tells you they love you." He had never really said that, had he? Who knows? He could have just been using her. Now that was a scary thought. Kagome curled up into a little ball on top of her covers and hugged her knees to her chest.

"Back then I swore I was gonna,

Marry him someday.

But I realized some bigger,

Dreams of mine.

And Abigail gave everything,

She had to a boy,

Who changed his mind.

And we both cried."

Kagome wasn't sure who she was right now. Taylor, or Abigail?

~o~o~

"Time is going by,

So much faster than I.

And I've started to regret not spending a little with you.

Now I'm,

Wondering why,

I've kept this bottled inside.

So I've started to regret not telling all of it to you.

So if I haven't yet,

I've gotta let you know.

You're never gonna be alone.

From this moment on,

If you ever feel like letting go,

I wont let you fall.

You're never gonna be alone,

I'll hold you until the hurt is gone."

Inuyasha sat on his bed, staring up at the ceiling, radio remote, held limply in his hand. Why hadn't he told her? There were so many things he should have told her. Why hadn't he?

"You gotta live every single day,

Like its the only one,

What if tomorrow never comes?

Don't let it slip away.

Could be our only one,

You know its only just begun.

Every single day,

May be our only one,

What if tomorrow never comes?

Tomorrow never comes."

Now that was a scary thought. Inuyasha sat up in his bed and thought for a moment, but he never was one to think much before acting, so he quickly got up and got the phone from beside his bed, going downstairs to grab a phonebook.

~o~o~

"Its two A.M.

Feelin' like I just lost a friend.

Hope you know its not easy,

Easy for me.

Its two a.m.

Feelin' like I just lost a friend.

Hope you know this ain't easy,

Easy for me.

And we know its never simple,

Never easy.

Never a clean break, no one here to save me.

Ohhh.

I cant,

Breathe,

Without you,

But I have to,

Breathe,

Without you.

But I have to."

Kagome was still curled up in a fetal position on her bed, just listening to the radio. Someone really wanted to hear Taylor Swift's heartbreaking songs right now, because they kept requesting them, and Kagome was too caught up in her own little world to think to change the channel.

The phone in her room rang, then again, then Kagome finally managed to drag herself from the bed after the third ring and pick it up. "Hello?" she asked into the receiver, her voice a little raspy from disuse and unshed tears.

"Kagome?" Inuyasha asked from the other end. Kagome hung up. The phone rang again, and Kagome picked it up by reflex.

"Kagome, listen to me. I have to tell you something-" She hung up again.

This time, he waited five minutes before calling again, just enough time for the radio to run through White Horse by Taylor Swift and leave more unshed tears in Kagome's eyes. "What?" she snapped as she picked it up this time.

He put it simply this time. "You're pregnant."

~o~o~o~o~

Gah! Sorry for the crappy chapter guys! I'm like rushing to get this story published by the end of today. So, the song lyrics I used are, in order, My Immortal by Evanescence, Please Don't Go by Mike Posner, Fifteen by Taylor Swift, Never Gonna Be Alone by Nickelback, and Breathe by Taylor Swift.

So, yeah, I own none of those. -.-; I could never sing that well.


	8. Announcement

I do not own or make a profit from Inuyasha. Rumiko Takahashi does. :'(

Only the original characters and the plot are mine.

~o~o~o~o~

"What the heck is that supposed to mean?" Kagome yelled into the phone, not caring that her family could probably hear her downstairs.

"I mean exactly what I said: you're pregnant," Inuyasha repeated emotionlessly from the other end of the phone line.

"Bull_shit_!" Kagome yelled into the receiver. "You can't tell that early! And what would you know, anyway?"

"Kagome?" her mother asked hesitantly from behind her door.

Kagome looked up at the voice and tried to calm herself a little. "Sorry, Mom. It's nothing. I'll try to be more quiet."

"Okay, Kagome, if you say so..." Kagome could tell that her mother was reluctant to leave, but sure that she did, knowing that her mother was one to respect privacy.

Kagome turned back to the phone, glaring at it. "What do you mean?" she asked again, trying to keep her voice lower so that she wouldn't bother anyone, but still seething.

Inuyasha sighed on the other end of the line, halfway relieved that she was no longer yelling and halfway regretting having called her in the first place, though he knew he had to. "My mom told me before she died. The whole... birds and bees thing."

Kagome nodded impatiently. "Yes, Inuyasha, everyone knows that sex makes babies, now can you please continue?"

He sighed again and did as he was told. "Well, half-demons are different from humans or demons. Our... sperm... is very strong. It will always fertilize the egg." Kagome listened in silence as he explained.

"Okay, that makes sense," she admitted emotionlessly once he was done.

Inuyasha took a deep breath, thanking the Gods that she had taken that so well. "There's just one more thing, though."

"What?" Kagome asked in a flat voice, steeling herself for bad news.

"Half-demons are different," he continued, obviously having trouble trying to phrase his sentences right. "We... Well, you know that we have both demon and human blood, of course."

Kagome nodded even though she was only talking to him on the phone, then realized what she had done and said, "Yes."

"Well, our... sperm... is evenly split up into those categories as well. One half is demon, and the other is human." He paused, letting that sink in. They were both quiet for some moments.

"So, potentially, I could either give birth to a half-demon or a human child?" Kagome asked, as emotionless as ever. She found that better than trying to think about the whole ordeal.

"Yeah..." Inuyasha was cautious as he spoke, worried that she was going to start freaking out on him.

But she simply said, "Thank you for telling me that, Inuyasha," and hung up the phone. Then she went over to her bed and sat down, petting Buyo absently. A child. Human or half-demon, it didn't matter. A child. Her child. Their child.

One part of her wanted to be ecstatic, to jump for joy and crow to the world that he was hers, that they were both hers. But on the other hand, Inuyasha had never said he loved her. Just because he called to inform her of her pregnancy didn't mean anything; that's what any responsible person would have done. But he still hadn't said those words, he still hadn't admitted, and until he did, Kagome couldn't dare to hope that he might feel the same way that she did. About him. About their child. About everything.

And another thing: what would her mother say? Kagome had heard stories of girls being kicked out of their houses because they got pregnant in their teens. She was sure that her mother was more understanding than that, but still. She would probably make Kagome give the baby up for adoption, or worse, make her get an abortion. Just the thought of her little baby dying before it was even born made her squirm in fear and grief. No, that was not going to happen.

She placed one hand over her smooth abdomen as the other continued to pet Buyo. Soon it would be bloated with her child. Would it be human? Or half-demon? A girl or a boy? Kagome couldn't wait to find out. Speaking of waiting, she knew that the gestation period for demons was different from humans. She might want to figure that out.

But Kagome didn't have Inuyasha's number, or caller ID, unfortunately. She could probably look it up, but what if her mother looked at the history? And if she erased it, then her mother would know for sure that something was wrong. The library, maybe, but after all the recent activity by Naraku, she was hesitant to go anywhere by herself, and if she went with her mother, that kind of defeated the purpose of going to the library, now didn't it?

Kagome sighed heavily and fell back onto the bed, making Buyo meow loudly as she landed on his tail by accident. "Oops. Sorry, Buyo," Kagome said distractedly as she shifted to let him go, he jumped off the bed, onto the floor, and out her door.

A baby. She couldn't believe it.

~o~o~

The next night, Kagome sat with her mother in the living room, reading in front of the fire. Kagome had long since given up on her English book, and was now simply staring into the flames, dreaming of a half-demon child with Inuyasha's ears.

"Mom?" Kagome asked quietly, looking up from the flames to her mother where she was reading The Tale of Genji.

"Hm? Yes, Kagome?" her mother asked, looking up from the book to glance at her daughter with warm eyes.

Kagome took a deep breath. "What... what would you say if I... if I got pregnant?"

Kagome's mother's eyes widened in surprise and Kagome looked back into the flames of the fire, blushing deeply, and not from the heat. She looked up again in surprise though as her mother pulled herself to sit right next to her, staring deep into the depths of her eyes, almost as if reading her soul.

"I'd say, Kagome, are you sure?"

Kagome nodded quietly, waiting for her reaction.

"And, do you love him?"

Kagome nodded again, looking away from her piercing gaze as tears began to fill her eyes.

"And... does he love you?"

Kagome gulped. She knew this question was going to come after the last one. "I... I don't know," she admitted, still not looking at her mother. There was silence for a couple moments, and then Kagome's mother pulled her into a tight embrace. Kagome's eyes widened in surprised at first, but then they closed as her tears spilled over, with them going the relief of her mother's acceptance and the grief of being so unsure about Inuyasha's feelings for her.

"Then I would say, what's the name?" asked her mother quietly.

Kagome's eyes opened again. That was an unexpected question. Usually her mother didn't care about her social life unless Kagome wanted to open up. Then again, this was quite a bit different. "Well, Mom..."

"Oh, I'm sorry! You probably don't even know if it's a girl or a boy yet, huh?" Her mother pulled Kagome away from her body to look into her daughter's confused eyes. She giggled lightly. "Then again, your stomach isn't even getting big yet. How do you know? Did you take a test and not tell me about it?"

"Mom!" Kagome exclaimed, finally catching on to what her mother meant. She smiled and laughed with her mother, burying her head in her chest again and hugging her tightly. "Thank you," she whispered fervently after a moment of silence.

Her mother nodded and began to stroke Kagome's hair lightly. "Still... How do you know, Kagome? You know skipping a period isn't accurate at all."

Kagome nodded, then sighed and pulled her head away to look in her mother's eyes again. "I... the father called me... yesterday. He knew."

Kagome's mother nodded in understanding. "So that's what all the screaming was about," she mused, making Kagome laugh sheepishly.

"Yeah... But... Mom, you have to know... My... my baby might not be... human." Kagome watched her mother's eyes again, looking for any signs of repulsion or fear. But all she saw was surprise and joy.

"Oh, really, Kagome? What does that mean, the father was a demon? But you said it _might_ not be human. If he was a demon then for sure it would be half-and-half..." She trailed off, finally coming to a conclusion.

"Yes, Mom. The father was half-demon himself. He... he was..." Kagome struggled to get the words out as her mother pulled her into an embrace again.

"I knew you liked Inuyasha Taisho," she murmured into her daughter's midnight hair.

~o~o~o~o~

Ha! Please excuse my trying to by intelligent again. ^^; What I'm referring to is the mention of The Tale of Genji that Kagome's mother is reading. It's basically what is considered the world's first novel, traditionally written in Japan by Murasaki Shikibu near the peak of the Heian period in the early eleventh century.

Gah! Another short chapter! Sorry, guys! I'm just trying to stretch out the plot to reach ten chapters because that's the requirement for KatiechanXoxoXSesshoukun's contest. That, and it's kind of late here, so I'm kind of running out of time to finish, especially sine I have school tomorrow and my homework still isn't done. -.-;


	9. Back To School

I do not own or make a profit from Inuyasha. Rumiko Takahashi does. :'(

Only the original characters and the plot are mine.

~o~o~o~o~

It was now Monday, and Kagome was on the computer looking up the gestation period of dog demons. She had today off because it was her school's fall break. Souta had off today and tomorrow, but Kagome's school had taken Friday off instead of Tuesday so that they could go on the Mt. Fuji camping trip. Look how well that turned out.

"How's it going, Kagome?" her mother asked softly from the doorway to the office, closing it behind her so that the boys would know not to disturb them. Souta had invited over Kohaku and Shippo again, and now they were running around the house playing demon-slayers. Ironically, Shippo found it amazing fun.

"I've got all the numbers figured out, Mom," Kagome said, turning back to her mother in the spinning office chair, a pad of yellow sticky notes in her hand. "If it's human, it'll take nine months, of course," she started. "It takes two months for the average dog demon fetus to fully mature, so a half-dog-demon fetus should take five and a half months, by my calculations."

Kagome's mother nodded. "That sounds about right to me. So, it you haven't given birth after six months we can safely assume it's human?"

Kagome nodded. "That's my conclusion."

Kagome's mother walked forward to hug her daughter again. "Don't worry, honey. I've got experience in this kind of thing. I'll help you get through all this." Kagome took a deep breath of her mother's strawberry shampoo and felt comforted, nodding and smiling happily.

Kagome's mother pulled away and smiled at her daughter again. "Good," she said, nodding. "Well, then, I have to go to the store because all these boys running around my house are seriously depleting the stock in the fridge." Kagome laughed at her mother. "Do you think you'll be able to handle them all by yourself?"

"Sure, Mom. They're not so bad. As long as they don't get into the matches." Kagome laughed and stood up, turning off the computer.

Kagome's mother laughed with her, then poked her playfully on the nose. "It's good practice."

Kagome pouted at her mother and put her hands on her hips. "Mom! I'm not having three!" Her mother just started laughing and waved it off as a bad joke, making Kagome laugh as well.

"All right then, I'm going," Kagome's mother called from the front door as she left, blowing Kagome a kiss on the way out. Kagome waved and smiled as the boys barreled down the stairs from Souta's bedroom to see her mother off.

"So, what are you guys planning to do now?" Kagome asked, looking down at the three hyper little teens.

Souta shrugged, and Kohaku and Shippo followed suit. "I dunno. More demon-slayers?" The others cheered in agreement, and Kagome rolled her eyes.

"Doesn't that get old?" she asked them as they began running around the house again, pretending to fight with invisible swords and chains.

Souta shrugged again. "Not really," he said as Shippo tackled him to the ground. "Gah! Kohaku, help! The demon's got me!" Kohaku began running towards Souta and Shippo, pretending to swing some form of weapon on a chain, but Shippo hopped up before he got there.

"You're too late!" Shippo said as Kohaku slowed to a halt. "I've already turned him into a demon!" At that, Souta jumped up and began to run after Kohaku, who ran away at full speed. They were all laughing uncontrollably, and Kagome had to let out just a giggle, watching them play. Would her child be this rambunctious? Surely not as a newborn, but later?

"Hm, you know what you guys should do?" Kagome asked, placing a finger on her chin as she thought. The boys halted their game and turned to look at her, coming closer so as to hear her better.

"What, Sis?" asked Souta.

"You should invite those nice little girls from the cultural festival over, oh, what were their names? Rin, Kanna, and Souten, that was it. Why don't you invite them over to play demon-slayers with you? I'm sure it'd be more fun with more people."

The boys eyes all widened as she explained her idea, and blushes sprung to their faces almost simultaneously. They all crossed their pointer fingers in front of their face, almost like a ward-evil sign.

"No way!"

"Nuh-uh!"

"Nada!"

"Ah, come on, guys!" said Kagome, though she couldn't help but giggle at their comical reactions. "I'm it'd be fun! Oh, wait, I forgot. Girls still have cooties, huh?" she said, running up to Souta and tickling his sides, forcing the boy to the ground in a fit of laughter.

"Oh, know!" cried Kohaku! "It's the demon queen!" He pointed at Kagome and drew his invisible chain weapon, preparing to strike her with it.

"Who are you calling demon queen?" Kagome asked, lunging and tickling him next. "I'm just a big sister!"

"Isn't that the same thing?" Kohaku asked, between pants and laughs, squirming to try to keep her away from his ticklish sides.

Shippo was just hiding out behind the couch, giggling at the events in front of him. He sure wished he had a big sister. Finally, Kagome was done, and she sat, back with a huff, laughing heartily. Souta and Kohaku sat up scowling, making Kagome laugh harder.

Then she just sat back, sighing in contentment as the boys nestled around her. It seemed they had tired themselves out, because soon, Souta and Kohaku were both asleep, and Shippo was heading that way, too.

"Kagome?" Shippo asked through a yawn, rubbing some sleep out of his eye.

"Yes, Shippo?" Kagome asked, stroking Souta's hair where his head was laying in her lap.

Shippo crawled down from the couch at her back and snuggled into her lap as well, and Kagome smiled and brushed the coppery hair out of his big green eyes. "Why do you... smell so different?" he asked, yawning again as his eyes began to droop lower.

Kagome's eyes widened at the question. What did that mean? She smiled and patted him on the head lightly. "Don't worry about it, Shippo. It's just a new brand of body wash I'm using. Do you like it?"

"It smell like... apples... and cinnamon," he said, yawning widely.

Kagome giggled again. "I like it, too. Now, get some sleep, Shippo. You've had a long day." The little fox kit nodded, and was soon snoring lightly just like the other boys, leaving Kagome to silently contemplate what he had said.

She smelt different? Was that a good thing? She wasn't really using a new body wash, that was a quickly fabricated lie. So, what did it means that she suddenly smelt like apples and cinnamon? Was it... the baby? But, no, of course not. It was much too early for that.

When Kagome's mother got home, she found three little boys sleeping around one big girl, snoozing lightly in the midday sun.

~o~o~

"Guh, Mom, I don't feel so good," said Kagome, holding her stomach as she walked out of her bedroom the next morning.

Kagome's mother cocked her head from where she was making breakfast for herself and Souta, if he ever decided to wake up. "Do you want to stay home today? I took off so I could watch Souta."

Kagome shook her head. "No, Mom, that's fine. Can I just have some Tums?" she asked, sitting down at the table. Her mother nodded and left the burner for a moment to go look in the bathroom medicine cabinet, coming out a few moments later with a bottle of Tums.

"You know your dosage, right?" she asked, setting the bottle on the table and returning to the burner before her sausages got just a little _too_ brown.

Kagome nodded. "It's on the side of the bottle, anyway." She took out her dosage and chewed the tablets, swallowing the chalky medicine quickly so that she wouldn't have to taste it for any longer than necessary. She hated Tums. They tasted weird and they never did anything for her, but it was the best she could get right now, so she took it with grace.

Kagome's mother set the plate of sausages down in front of her daughter and stood there with her hands on her hips. "Are you sure you want to go to school today?" she asked, staring Kagome in the eye.

"Yes, Mom, I'm sure," said Kagome in a forcedly patience voice. "I need to get all my homework and things and I have to talk to my friends, you know? They'll worry it I'm not their." Translation: I really want to see Inuyasha.

Kagome's mother simply rolled her eyes and walked back to the burner to work on the omelets. "If you say so," she agreed, shrugging.

Kagome nodded determinedly. "I do say so," she said, taking a bite out of her sausage. Her mother simply laughed.

After breakfast, Sango came to take Kagome to school. She asked again and again if Kagome was okay, and Kagome just kept saying that she was, waving it off reassuringly as they walked down the street to the school.

School was okay. Naraku was absent again, unsurprisingly, and Inuyasha was very quiet, which was unnatural for him, and Kagome found it a blessing that she didn't have to talk to him before she was ready. Just seeing him was enough for now. The teachers were exceptionally nice to both of them, as well, which is always a plus. Mr. Jaken was still his crabby old self though, at which Kagome rolled her eyes. Oh well, it wasn't like she had really expected the toad to change on their behalf. They weren't even full demons.

Kagome yawned widely at lunch, causing Sango to look at her once more in worry. "Are you sure you're okay, Kagome?"

"For the nth time, yes, Sango, I'm fine!" Kagome said in exasperation, laughing at her friend.

"Nth?" asked Ayame from where she was eating her lunch sitting next to Kouga.

Kagome nodded, taking a bite out of her peanut butter and jelly sandwich. "It's like infinity."

Ayame nodded in understanding, smiling, and said, "Wow, where'd you learn that, Kagome?"

Kagome shrugged. "Oh, I was just looking up some stuff yesterday and I found it on this online dictionary website I go to sometimes. It was the word of the day."

"What stuff?" Kagome turned slowly, hearing the dreadfully familiar voice from just behind her.

"None of your business, Taisho," she muttered into her sandwich, taking another bite.

Inuyasha just shrugged. "You guys mind if I sit here?" he asked, motioning to their little circle on the grass.

"Yes, actually, we do mind," said Miroku, standing up, Kouga right behind him.

"Well, no offense guys but it was either here or over there," said Inuyasha, motioning to the popular circle, where Kikyou was sitting with her friends.

"Well, that's not our problem," said Miroku, moving forward a step to place himself between Inuyasha and the girls. "Now, if you would please-"

"I don't care where he sits," Kagome interrupted in the barest whisper, causing Miroku to stop, though it was more for the affect of her words than for her voice itself. As soon as she said "sit," Inuyasha face-planted into the ground behind her, right at a startled Miroku's feet.

Kagome couldn't help but snicker as Inuyasha sat up and spat the dirt and grass clumps from his mouth. "Why you little-" he began, before Kagome cut him off again.

"Another word, and your face is going back in the dirt, Taisho," she warned, eating her sandwich calmly.

Inuyasha simply stayed where he was, grumbling quietly but not saying anymore more audible words, so he was safe. Lunch almost passed without incident, but Kikyou decided to pay the group a little visit about ten minutes before the bell to go back in.

"Hello," she said, making everyone look up in surprise. Kagome glared at her from behind her soda can, and took another drink to hide the scowl. Everyone else just nodded to her uneasily in greeting. Everyone except Inuyasha, that is.

"What the hell do you want, Kikyou?" he asked, taking another sip of his soda.

Kikyou shot his a light glare before her face turned back to its unreadable, glassy mask, the likes of which set upon Kagome. "I came to speak with Kagome."

Kagome nodded. "Okay, then. Go ahead," she said.

Kikyou cleared her throat. "In private, please." Kagome simply shrugged and placed her soda back on the grassy ground, telling Sango to watch her stuff while she was gone.

"Kagome are you sure you want to-" Sango began before Kagome cut her off with a wave of the hand.

"Yeah, I'm sure, Sango. I told you I'm fine," she said, walking off after Kikyou in the direction of the archery range.

Once they got there, Kikyou stopped with her back to Kagome, who stood with her hands on her hips impatiently, waiting for Kikyou to say what she meant to so they could go back already.

"Well?" Kagome asked after another moment's waiting. Kikyou turned to look at Kagome, holding an arrow in her hand. Kagome took a step back uneasily. "And what's that for?" she asked suspiciously.

"You listened in class, right?" Kikyou asked instead of answering the question.

Kagome rolled her eyes. "Of course I did!"

Kikyou nodded, not even noticing Kagome's are-you-stupid? tone of voice. Kikyou held it out to Kagome. "Then channel your powers into this arrow," she ordered.

Kagome looked at her with one eyebrow raised, but took the arrow with a, "Whatever." She focused her mind on the arrow and took a deep breath concentrating on letting her energy flow along the wood of the arrow. And nothing happened. "What the?" Kagome said, trying again. Again, nothing happened.

Kikyou's expression got angrier each second that Kagome was holding the arrow. "I knew it. I knew it!" she hissed out, and Kagome looked up, startled. "You slept with him didn't you? Didn't you?"

Kagome was extremely confused now, but she put on an angry face and stood her ground against the raging Kikyou. "That is none of your business, Kikyou! Now what the heck did you do to this arrow? Why isn't it accepting my energy?"

"I did nothing," Kikyou said in quiet anger. "It was you. Only someone pure can be a priestess, priest, or monk. Everyone knows that."

Kagome paled. That meant... After she and Inuyasha... She wasn't a priestess anymore?

"This only proves that you took him from me. You've defiled him!" Kikyou seethed.

"Woah! Who defiled who, now?" Kagome asked, not understanding a word this phsyco was saying.

Kikyou snapped her fingers and a whirlwind appeared to her left, out of which stepped a woman with pointed ears, red eyes, and black hair. A demoness. "Kagura," Kikyou commanded, pointing at Kagome. "You know what to do."

Kagura? The quiet girl in Kagome's home economics class? The demoness nodded. "Yes, Mistress," she said, then lunged for Kagome.

~o~o~o~o~

Gah! My dad's going to kill me! It's 9:23 on a Sunday night! Trying to finish this! Just one more chapter, peoples! Hopefully I can get it done and still do my language arts homework. -.-;


	10. Lost and Found

I do not own or make a profit from Inuyasha. Rumiko Takahashi does. :'(

Only the original characters and the plot are mine.

~o~o~o~o~

Days passed. And still, no one could find Kagome. They last people to see her were the ones in the circle she had been sitting in at lunch, as Kikyou had disappeared with her. A week passed, and then another, and another. And still, no one could find them. Inuyasha and Kagome's mother were starting to become especially worried, as they were the only ones that knew that Kagome was with child.

Inuyasha suggested they search Naraku as well and see if she was with him, but he wasn't anywhere. It seemed he had officially left his apartment months ago, the day after Inuyasha had first met Kagome. They kept searching-Inuyasha didn't even sleep often nights-but they were running out of leads fast, and still, they had nothing.

Inuyasha was getting more irritable every day, snapping at everyone and everything, debating with himself about where he hadn't looked yet, berating himself for letting her go with Kikyou that day. Why had he let her go?

And then, three weeks and a day into the search, twenty-four days after the day that they were alone on Mt. Fuji, Inuyasha caught a whiff of her scent. He barely even stopped long enough to tell anyone where he was going before he was off, running with inhuman speed, jumping over buildings and startled pedestrians, mindless to it all.

He knew where she was. He could help her. He knew how to help her.

The helpless rage lifted from his being with each step he took in her direction, and soon he was there. The only thing that he found odd was that he hadn't smelled her before. He wasn't even that far away, just the nearest port town's docks, and they had searched this far before. So surely he should have smelled her if she was here before, right?

Perhaps they were moving her, but that was unlikely. Then they would have left a clean trail for Inuyasha to follow to Kagome and her captors. Oh well. It didn't matter now. He was here. He had found her.

Following his nose, Inuyasha walked up to one of the warehouses by the docks and kicked down the door, letting the midday light pour in so he could see what was going on. At first glance, he could tell that things were bad.

Kagome was tied up in the back corner, her wrists behind her back and her ankles tied in front of her, with a small strip of cloth covering her mouth. Her head drooped low as though she had no more energy for life, and her stomach was heavily bloated, almost as if she were ready to give birth any minute. But that couldn't be right. It hadn't even been a month yet.

Kikyou stood off in a dark corner, talking quickly to someone in the shadows, and a demoness stood guard in front of Kagome, looking bored. Inuyasha growled, announcing his presence-as though the kicked-in door hadn't already done that-and lunged at the demoness, who in turn twisted the oriental fans in her hands, forcing a blade of sharp air across Inuyasha's cheek, slicing it cleanly.

Inuyasha wiped the blood away, smirking lightly. So that was how they had done it. The wind demoness had thrown off their trail. Inuyasha lunged again, only to be thrown off again by more wind blades. He growled angrily, and Kikyou giggled from the corner, making him look up.

"What, Inuyasha?" she asked with mock innocence. "Can't you save her?" She laughed again as Inuyasha lunged her way and Kagura twisted her fans to send more wind his way.

Kagome stirred in the corner, looked up faintly, and upon seeing Inuyasha, her eyes widened in relief and happiness. Inuyasha saw the look, and it bolstered his strength to see her look at him like that.

Inuyasha lunged again, and tore right through the wind barriers that Kagura put up, slashing down on her with his claws. She screamed as the claws ripped through her shoulder and backed away from him quickly, breathing heavily.

"What are you doing, Kagura?" Kikyou demanded from the corner. The pointed at Inuyasha. "Finish him!"

Inuyasha watched Kagura, preparing for her next attack, but it never came. Kagura simply shook her head. "I... can't," she huffed, holding her bleeding shoulder. She looked into Inuyasha's eyes and then at Kikyou, and simply shook her head again. "I'm sorry, Mistress. He's too strong. You handle him."

And with that, Kagura took one of the feathers from her hair and enlarged it, hopping onto the flying transport and escaping out the open door. "Kagura!" Kikyou shrieked in fury.

Inuyasha wasn't paying any attention, he was already over by Kagome untied her and taking the gag off her mouth. "Kagome, are you okay?" he asked, holding her out and inspecting her. She looked too thin. That wasn't good, for her or the baby. Hopefully they'd both be okay.

Kagome's eyes shone as she stared at him in wonder, then said in a hoarse voice, "You came... for me." She buried her head into his chest and Inuyasha wrapped his arms around her, patting her lightly on the head.

"Of course I came for you," Inuyasha growled out angrily. "I love you." Kagome's breath stopped at that. Had he seriously just said what she thought he said?

But Inuyasha was standing before she had a chance to verify it. He turned and faced Kikyou, putting himself between her and Kagome. "You're not going to get away with this, Kikyou," Inuyasha ensured her, then leaned down to pick up Kagome carefully, holding her bridal style.

Kikyou screamed in wordless frustration again. "Naraku! Do something!" Inuyasha tensed at the name and Kagome shivered, though she knew there was nothing to fear from him now. Inuyasha didn't, though.

"I can't, Mistress," said Naraku, stepping from the shadows. As a human. "She took my powers, remember?"

As Inuyasha looked down at Kagome in wonder, Kikyou shrieked again and pointed a finger at Inuyasha. "This isn't the end!" she vowed. "I will have you! And I will never forgive that bitch for stealing you from me!" And with that, she ran out the other side of the warehouse. Naraku stood for a moment, unsure of what to do, but upon seeing the look that Inuyasha was giving him, he quickly followed suit.

Once he was sure they were gone, Inuyasha looked back down at Kagome. "Are you okay to travel?" he asked, supporting her carefully in his arms. Kagome nodded, hoping that she wouldn't get motion sickness. Inuyasha nodded in approval, then took off at a steady pace, fast but not quite so urgent as before. Kagome snuggled further into his chest and squeezed her eyes shut so that she wouldn't have to look at everything passing by so quickly.

"I... I'm so sorry, Kagome." Kagome looked up in astonishment. Was Inuyasha... apologizing?

She smiled at him and patted his chest weakly, shoeing him that it was okay. "I still love you," she said, leaning her head against his chest and falling into a light sleep. Inuyasha stared at her in astonishment and wonder. She still loved him? After all that he had put her through? Kagome really was an amazingly forgiving person, Inuyasha decided, and her kissed her lightly on the head as she slept in his arms.

~o~o~

Four days later, at six in the morning, Kagome sat in the hospital bed and pushed as the doctor's told her to, squeezing Inuyasha's hand for comfort.

Push. One. Push. Two. Push. Three. Push. Four.

Four babies, nobody could believe it, least of all the parents. "Are you serious?" Kagome asked drowsily, letting her babies be handed to her one at a time so she could inspect them. There was a girl with Kagome's midnight hair and Inuyasha's doggy ears, a little boy with silver hair and those same half-demon ears, another little girl-a human, this time-with silver hair, and a human boy with black hair.

"Do you have names?" asked one nurse happily, holding a clipboard and pen in her hands.

"Um, I'm not really sure," said Kagome. "I wasn't expecting this many..."

"How about we name this one Mayonaka?" Inuyasha suggested, pointing to the little girl with black hair and dog ears.

"Midnight..." Kagome giggled. "I like it. And what if we named this one Mangetsu?" she asked, pointing to the little half-demon boy with silver hair.

Inuyasha chuckled. "Full moon? Really?" Kagome pouted. "No, no, I like it," he said quickly. "It suits him, I think. And what about this one? What about... Shukumei?"

"Fate? That's cute." Kagome smiled and turned back to the last child, her little silver haired girl. "What if we name her... Inuhana?"

Inuyasha laughed again. "Dog flower... That's a good one." The nurse smiled and wrote everything down, then left them alone with their children, who were all sleeping, thankfully. Kagome's mother was downstairs getting some coffee and a hot chocolate for Souta.

Kagome was just about to fall asleep herself when someone else knocked quietly on the door and poked his head in. It was one of the doctors. Kagome waved him in and waited for him to speak. The man cleared his throat and began. "Ma'am, I'm terribly sorry, but it seems the stress was a bit much for your body. We had to remove your uterus along with the children. You know what this means, don't you?"

Kagome nodded, yawning widely. "Perfect birth control," she said, laughing quietly. "Thank you, doctor, but I wasn't exactly planning on having any more children." The doctor smiled and nodded then left the two of them alone.

Inuyasha smiled down at their four children, Mayonaka, Mangetsu, Sukumei, and Inuhana. Then he turned his gaze to Kagome and found her staring fondly at the little bundles as well. He kissed her on the forehead to get her attention, and when she looked at him, he got down from his seat by the bed and knelt on one knee, holding her hand in his own.

"Kagome Higurashi, will you please be my wife?" he asked, presenting her with a simple silver band, studded with white and pink diamonds. Kagome gasped upon seeing the ring and tears began to fill her eyes. She could hardly speak as she answered him.

"Yes. I do." She smiled and nodded to confirm her words and Inuyasha smiled widely, pulling her into a tight hug and kissing his fiancée on the lips.

~o~o~o~o~

Yeah! Happy ending! And a lot of kids. o.0 Sorry, I just had to do that. XD Anywho, yay! I made it! It's officially 11:16 my time, so I just made the deadline. XD Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go pass out so I can wake up for school tomorrow. ^^;


End file.
